was taken, and the fleet arrived at Goa. Having visited some of theforts, and issued the necessary orders, Gama sent three gallies fromCochin to Calicut, as the subjects of the zamorin began to betroublesome. One of these fought for three hours with fifty large_paraos_ and lost three men; but on the coming up of the others, theenemy were put to flight. The new viceroy had intended to executeseveral important enterprises; but he soon fell sick, and finding hisend fast approaching, he appointed Lope Vaz de Sampayo to act as hissuccessor till Don Enrique de Menezes, then at Goa, who was next innomination by the king, might arrive. Vasco de Gama died on Christmaseve 1524, having been only three months viceroy. He was of middlestature, somewhat gross, and had a ruddy complexion. He had a naturalboldness for any great undertaking, and was well fitted for every thingentrusted to him, as a sea captain, as discoverer, and as viceroy; beingpatient of fatigue, prompt in the execution of justice, and terriblewhen angry.

Immediately after the death of the viceroy, Lope Vaz de Sampayodispatched Francisco de Sa to Goa, to carry information to Don Enriquede Menezes that he had succeeded to the government of Portuguese India.Leaving De Sa to command in Goa, Menezes went immediately to Cochin toassume his new situation; having first sent his nephew George Zelo witha galliot and five armed paraos against a fleet which infested thecoast. Zelo met 38 vessels laden with spice commanded by _Cutiale_, fourof which were taken and the rest driven on shore. These four werebrought in barbarous triumph to Goa, having many of the enemies hungupon the shrouds. The Canarin rowers carried thirty heads, in token ofthe victory, and twelve prisoners alive, _who were given up to the boysto be stoned to death_. Zelo had similar success afterwards against aship and nine paraos. He sailed after that to Cochin with his uncle,who, being accidentally joined by George de Menezes, defeated 36 paraosbelonging to Diu, 17 of which were taken. When at Cananor be hanged aMoor of quality, on which many of his relations left the city and tookto robbing on the river. But, with consent of the king of Cananor, DonEnrique sent Hector de Sylveira against them with two gallies and abrigantine, who destroyed four _towns_[176] and took all their cannon,not without considerable difficulty. About the same time Christopher deBrito went with fourteen row-boats and about an hundred men to scour thecoast of Canara, where he destroyed some of the Moors; but those ofDabul sent two galliots and seven other vessels against him, with abovethree hundred men. In the commencement of the engagement Brito wasslain; but his people exerted themselves so valiantly to revenge thedeath of their commander, that after four hours hard fighting most ofthe Moors were slain, and their commander and all the rest taken. TheMoorish captain died afterwards of his wounds at Goa, being firstconverted to the Christian faith.

[Footnote 176: Perhaps instead of _towns_ we ought to read _tonys_, aspecies of vessel then need by the inhabitants of the Malabarcoast.--E.]

The fort at Calicut was at this time much straitened by the Nayres, yetthe small garrison of fifty Portuguese maintained their post with muchhonour. Don Enrique, to punish the hostilities of the Moors of Calicut,fitted out fifty sail of vessels from Cochin, to which were added otherfifty belonging to the inhabitants of that city, twenty-seven of whichbelonged to one individual named Arel de Porca[177]. With these vessels,carrying 2000 soldiers, the governor arrived at Paniani, one of theprincipal towns in the territory of Calicut, which was well fortifiedand stored with cannon under the command of a Portuguese renegado.Besides these fortifications on the land, the river was defended by anumber of armed vessels drawn up in order of battle. After a severecontest, the fortifications of Paniani were carried, and the enemy fledinto the woods. The town and all the vessels in the fort were burnt.Next day twelve ships were burnt in the port of Calicut, and severalmore in some creeks near the town. The armament proceeded in the nextplace to _Coulete_, which was fortified in a similar manner to Paniani,with a prodigious number of artillery, an hundred and fifty armed ships,and a garrison of 20,000 men. The Portuguese proceeded to the attack,and after a long and obstinate contest, drove the enemy from their workswith great slaughter, and took fifty-three vessels, most of which wereladen with pepper, with the loss of fifty-four Portuguese killed andmany wounded. The other vessels belonging to the enemy, being muchshattered in the engagement, were all burnt, and the town was destroyed.

[Footnote 177: These hundred vessels were probably _paraos_, or smallnative craft, considering that they only carried 2000 soldiers, only atthe rate of 20 for each vessel--E.]

Shortly after this, the zamorin of Calicut besieged the Portuguese fortat that place with an army of 12,000 men, and surrounded it with a broadand deep trench. Don Juan de Lima commanded in the fort with 300 men,and did every thing in his power to obstruct the besiegers in theconstruction of their lines; but they were at length finished andplanted with a vast number of cannon, some of which were so large as tocarry balls of two spans diameter. On receiving advice of this siege,Don Enrique sent a reinforcement of 150 men in two caravels commanded byChristopher Jusarte and Duarte Fonseca. They succeeded in forcing theirway into the fort in spite of a violent opposition by sea and land.Immediately afterwards, the enemy endeavoured to take the fort byescalade, but were repulsed with great slaughter. A fartherreinforcement of 500 men from Cochin being unable to reach Calicut, DonEnrique went there with all the naval force he could collect, beingunwilling that his government should suffer the disgrace of allowingthis fortress to be taken by the enemy. Having thrown some strongreinforcements into the fort, Don Enrique landed with the remainder ofhis troops, after clearing the shore of the enemy, by means of his gunsassisted by grenadoes and other fireworks. All the intrenchments andredoubts of the besiegers were successively carried, with prodigiousslaughter of the Moors and Nayres, of whom above 3000 were slain,besides many others burnt in their wooden forts and bulwarks. In thisengagement Don George de Menezes made great slaughter of the enemy witha two-handed sword; till losing his right hand, he took a smaller swordin his left, and continued to fight with great valour.

Don Enrique remained master of the field, in which he encamped for somedays: But as the fort was not considered important in proportion to itsexpence, it was stripped of every thing of value with great care andprivacy, and mines and trains laid to blow it up; after which the wholearmy retired to the ships. On seeing the fort evacuated, the Moorsrushed in to plunder in vast numbers; but the mines suddenly takingfire, blew up the whole fabric with a vast explosion, in which greatnumbers of the enemy perished miserably.

In the year 1526, Hector de Sylveira went with a squadron to the RedSea, and on his way thither assaulted and took the city of Dhofur on thecoast of Yemen in lat. 17 deg. N. He then entered the Red Sea, where hereduced the islands of Massua and Dallac to pay tribute; after, this hewent to _Arkiko_ on the coast of Abyssinia, where he received DonRodrigo de Lima who had been on an embassy to the king of Abyssinia, andwas there waiting for a passage along with an ambassador from _PresterJohn_ to the king of Portugal.

In this same year 1526, a small vessel was sent from Ternate to discoverthe islands of Celebes, which were said to abound in gold. Thediscoverer easily found the islands but no gold. Being on his return tothe Moluccas, he was carried away by a storm to the eastward till helost his reckoning, and unexpectedly fell in with a large and beautifulisland, inhabited by a simple race of men who treated the Portuguesewith much civility. They were strong made and of a comely appearance,with their complexion inclining to fair, having long lank hair and longbeards, and their clothing was of fine mats. Their food consistedchiefly of roots, cocoa nuts, and figs. Their language was notunderstood, but by signs they gave the Portuguese to understand thatthere was gold in the mountains, but of which they made no use. They hadno knowledge of iron or any other metal. Leaving this island, which theynamed after the pilot Diego Lopez Sequeira, they returned to Ternate,after an absence of eight months.

Don Enrique de Menezes, died at Cananor about the end of January 1526,in the thirtieth year of his age. He was a man of large stature, with apleasing countenance, just in all his actions, continent, free fromcovetousness, a true patron of merit, and of the most unblemishedhonour. During his government he refused uniformly to accept any of thenumerous presents offered him by the eastern princes; and conductedhimself with such perfect integrity in every transaction, that at hisdeath his whole treasure amounted only to thirteen rials and a half; andhe had even expended the whole of his patrimonial estate during theshort continuance of his government of Portuguese India, chiefly inrewarding the merits of his officers.

SECTION VII.

_Continuation of the Portuguese Transactions in India, from_ 1526 _to_1538.

At his death in January 1526, Don Enrique de Menezes left a paper sealedup, by which the succession to him in the government was to beregulated, in case the person nominated for that purpose by the kingshould happen to be absent. That paper was lost, yet it was known thathe had named Francisco de Sa, then commanding in Goa, as his provisionalsuccessor. The second royal nomination was now opened, in which Pedro deMascarenas was appointed successor to Don Enrique; but Mascarenascommanded at Malacca, which was at a great distance, and the season ofthe year did not admit of that navigation. On opening the third patent,Lope Vaz de Sampayo was the person there named, who was accordinglyinvested in the government, having, engaged on oath to resign toMascarenas on the arrival of that officer from Malacca.

At this time George Zelo and Pedro de Faria blockaded the port ofCananor, in which lay a fleet belonging to the zamorin. Sampayoimmediately sent orders to Antonio de Sylveria and Christopher de Souza,then at Goa, to join the other two officers at Cananor to prevent theescape of the enemy, and went in person with seven ships and aconsiderable land force to endeavour to destroy them. _Cutiale_, theadmiral of this fleet belonging to the zamorin, used every effort todefend himself, both by disposing his ships in formidable order, and byintrenchments and batteries on shore, where he had a land force of10,000 men. Having made proper dispositions, Sampayo landed with about1300 soldiers, leaving orders with Pedro de Faria to set the _paraos_belonging to the enemy on fire. The trenches of the enemy were carriedafter an obstinate resistance, and with great slaughter of the Moors,and seventy paraos were destroyed. By this signal victory, above eightybrass cannon were gained; but Sampayo spared the town, as it belonged tothe king of Narsinga, with whom the Portuguese were then in peace.

Having dispatched several officers on command to different places,Sampayo sailed for Ormuz with five ships and 300 men. In his way thitherhe reduced the towns of Kalayat and Muscat, which had revolted owing tothe exactions of Diego de Melo. His only transaction at Ormuz was tocompose some differences that had arisen between Melo and Reis Xarafo,to receive the tribute due by the king of Ormuz, and to take along withhim the ambassador whom George de Lima had brought from Abyssinia. FromOrmuz, Sampayo dispatched Hector de Sylveira to cruise off Diu, onpurpose to intercept the ships of the Red Sea that traded with Cambaya,of which three were taken. Sylveira then went to Diu, where he remaineda long time at the request of Malek Saca, who made use of him to, securehimself against the tyranny of the king of Cambaya.

Reis Soliman, the Turk who killed Mir Husseyn at Juddah, as formerlyrelated, recovered the favour of Sultan Selim who had conquered Egyptfrom the Mamelukes, having acquired the favour of that prince bydelivering up to him the city of Juddah which he had gained in theservice of the Soldan, and by means of a considerable present: for evenprinces, though they have no need of receiving gifts, are apt to be wonlike other men by their means; and as Soliman promised to performwonders in India for his service, Selim ordered twenty gallies and fivegalleons which were then at Suez to be added to the fleet under ReisSoliman. In the mean time Selim died at Cairo, and was succeeded by hisson Soliman, who sent that large reinforcement, under the command ofHayraddin, to Reis Soliman, who was then fortifying the island ofKamaran. Upon some disgust, Hayraddin killed Reis Soliman; and in histurn was slain by Mustapha the nephew of Soliman. Mustapha, being afraidof the consequences of this action, sailed from Kamaran with a smallnumber of vessels, the greater part of the fleet refusing to join him.He went first to Aden and thence to Diu, where he put himself under theprotection of the king of Cambaya. An account of these revolutions inthe Turkish fleet, which had given great apprehensions to the Portuguesein India, was carried to King John by Antonio Tenreyro over land, to thegreat admiration of every one; being the first who had performed thatjourney, till then thought impossible.

At this time Mascarenas, who waited in Malacca for the proper season ofsailing to Cochin to assume the government, went against Bintang withtwenty-one ships and 400 Portuguese soldiers, having likewise 600 Malayscommanded by Tuam Mahomet and Sinai rajah. Although the capital ofBintang was well fortified and defended by 7000 men, Mascarenassurmounted every opposition and took the place. Of the enemy 400 wereslain and 2000 made prisoners. A vast booty was made on this occasion,among which were nearly 300 pieces of cannon, and the Portuguese lostonly three men in this glorious exploit. The king of Bitang died ofgrief, and Mascarenas restored it to the lawful heir under vassalage toPortugal, the former king having been an usurper.

The island of Sunda is divided on the south from Java by a very narrowchannel. It produces pale gold with abundance of pepper and provisions.The natives are numerous but unwarlike, yet are curious in adorningtheir arms. They worship idols, and often sell their children to supplytheir necessities. The women are beautiful, those of the higher ranksbeing chaste, contrary to what is usual in most parts of the world. Theyhave convents, as in Spain and Portugal, in which they reside whilevirgins; and the married women kill themselves on the death of theirhusbands. This were a good custom to shew their duty and affection, wereit not contrary to the law of nature, and therefore a barbarous error.Enrique Leme happening to go there, drawn by the plenty and goodness ofits pepper, he was well received by the king of _Samiam_, who offeredground for a fort, and to pay an yearly tribute of 351 quintals ofpepper, to purchase the friendship and support of the Portuguese againstthe Moors, by whom he was much infested. But when Francisco de Sa cameto build the fort, he met with such opposition from the Moors that hewas obliged to return to Malacca.

In the same year 1526, Martin Iniguez de Carchisano arrived in the portof Kamafo in Tidore with a Spanish ship, one of six which had been sentthe year before from Spain to those parts which belonged of right to thePortuguese. Don Garcia Enriquez, who then commanded at the Moluccas, onlearning the arrival of these Spaniards, and finding that theyoccasioned the spice to rise in price, went in person to expel them, butwas obliged to retire with considerable damage from the Spanish cannon;yet the Spanish ship afterwards sunk. At this time Don George deMenezes, formerly mentioned as having lost his hand in the gloriousaction at Calicut, arrived at the Moluccas, having discovered the islandof Borneo and many other islands by the way. Soon afterwards two shipswere sent to Borneo with presents for the king, among which was a pieceof tapestry adorned with figures of men. On seeing these, the ignorantbarbarian cried out _that they were enchanted men, who would kill him inthe night_; and no persuasions could convince him of his error, norwould he receive the presents or permit the Portuguese to remain in hisport.

In the year 1527, it being understood at Cochin that Pedro de Mascarenaswas on his way from Malacca to assume the government, Lope Vaz deSampayo who acted _ad interim_, held a council of the principalofficers, at which it was resolved not to admit Mascarenas to that highoffice. After this determination, Sampayo sailed for Goa, leavingAlphonso Mexia to command at Cochin, with orders to execute theresolutions of the council. On landing unarmed at Cochin, Mascarenas wasopposed and wounded by Mexia; and proceeding afterwards to Goa, be wasmade prisoner and put in irons by order of Sampayo. These violentproceedings had nearly occasioned a civil war among the Portuguese inIndia; but at length, in the end of December 1527, Sampayo was confirmedin the government, and Mascarenas went home to Portugal, where he wasappointed to the command of Azamor in Africa.

In the year 1528, Don Joan Deza was sent to cruise on the coast ofCalicut, where in several rencounters he took fifty vessels laden withvarious commodities. He burnt the town of Mangalore; and falling in withthe fleet of Calicut, consisting of seventy paraos well manned and armedunder the command of the _Chinese_ admiral Cutiale, Deza took most ofthem killing 1500 Moors, and taking nearly as many prisoners, among whomwas Cutiale.

Antonio Miranda de Azevedo was sent in the end of January 1528 to theRed Sea, with twenty ships and above 1000 soldiers, to endeavour to burnthe Turkish gallies in the port of Kamaran which had formerly belongedto Reis Soliman. After taking some prizes by the way, be met withEnrique de Macedo in the mouth of the Red Sea, who had engaged a largeTurkish galleon. The Turks had boarded him, and threw a burning dartwhich stuck in his main-sail and began to set it on fire; but inconsequence of a strong gust of wind shaking the sail, the dart fellback into the Turkish vessel, where it set fire to the powder and theship and all her crew were blown up. Several other valuable shipsbelonging to the Moors were taken, but the main object of thisexpedition completely failed, as the wind did not allow the fleet to getup the Red Sea to Kamaran.

In consequence of the civil discord among the Portuguese, the Moors hadbeen enabled to annoy their trade in different parts: And as Lope Vazunderstood that a successor to the government was on his way fromPortugal, he prepared to be revenged on the Moors, wishing to deliver upthe government in prosperity, by clearing the sea from pirates. Withthis view he fitted out eighteen ships at Cochin, with which heencountered 130 armed paraos at Cananor; and as the wind did not allowhis large ships to get into action, he went against that numerous fleetwith only thirteen paraos. Even with this disproportionate force he didconsiderable damage to the Malabar fleet. On seeing two paraos comingfrom Cananor to the aid of Sampayo, and that the large Portuguese shipswere enabled to make sail by means of a breeze springing up, theMalabars fled as fast as possible. In the pursuit eighteen of them weresunk and twenty-two taken, in which were fifty pieces of cannon. Eighthundred of the enemy were slain, and many made prisoners. Those thatfled, and others who joined them, fell afterwards into a snare nearCochin.

With the same fleet, Sampayo went immediately in search of _Arel_, lordof _Porca_. In this expedition, Simon de Melo burnt twenty-six shipsbelonging to the enemy, and set the town of _Chatua_ on fire. Afterwardswith a thousand men he assaulted Porca; and though Arel was not there atthe time, the inhabitants made a brave but unavailing defence, as theplace was taken, plundered, and destroyed. At this place the wife ofArel was taken, with a great spoil in gold, silver, jewels, silks, andother valuables, and thirteen considerable vessels. On his return toCochin, as his successor was not yet arrived, Sampayo went back toCananor, whence he dispatched his nephew Simon de Melo against _Marabia_and Mount _Dely_, both of which places were taken, plundered, and,destroyed, with many piratical paraos. About this time, the king ofCambaya fitted out a fleet of eighty barks, under the command of avaliant Moor named _Alexiath_, who did much injury to the subjects ofNizam-al-mulk, and to the Portuguese trade at Chaul, in consequence ofwhich aid was demanded from Sampayo by both. Sampayo accordingly setsail with forty vessels of different kinds, in which were 1000Portuguese soldiers, besides a considerable force of armed natives. Inthis expedition Hector de Sylveira commanded the small vessels thatrowed[178], while Sampayo took charge of the sailing vessels. Onarriving at Chaul, Sampayo sent eighty Portuguese to the assistance ofNizam-al-Mulk, under the command of Juan de Avelar, and then sailed forDiu, as he understood the eighty barks of Cambaya were gone thither. OffBombay that fleet belonging to Cambaya of which he was in search wasdescried, on which part of the ships were detached to secure theentrance of the river Bandora, to prevent the enemy from escaping, whileSylveira with his brigantines or row-boats bore down upon Alexiath.After a furious cannonade, the Portuguese gallantly boarded the enemy,and Alexiath fled with seven only of his barks, all the rest beingtaken. Of the 73 vessels captured on this occasion, 33 were foundserviceable and were retained, all the rest being set on fire. In thisglorious exploit, a vast number of prisoners, much artillery, andabundance of ammunition were taken, and the Portuguese did not lose oneman.

[Footnote 178: Such is the expression in the translation of thePortuguese Asia by Stevens. They were probably Malabar vessels, which inthe early writers are named paraos, tonys, and caturs, and might perhapsbe called row-boats.--E]

Juan de Avelar, who had been detached with eighty Portuguese to theassistance of Nizam-al-Mulk against the king of Cambaya, acquired greathonour in that service by his gallantry. Assisted by 1000 of the nativesubjects of Nizam-al-Mulk, he scaled a fort belonging to the king ofCambaya, till then thought impregnable, being the first who entered; andhaving slain all the defendants, he delivered it up to the Nizam.

It was now about the beginning of the year 1529. Lope Vaz de Sampayo wasmuch elated by the last-mentioned success against the fleet of Cambaya,and believed that in the present state of dismay Diu would surrender onthe first summons: He was therefore eager to have gone against thatplace, but as all his captains except Sylveira were of a contraryopinion, he was obliged to lay aside that intention and to return toGoa, leaving the valiant Hector with twenty-two row-boats to cruiseagainst the pirates in the north. In the south, or on the Malabar coast,Antonio de Miranda was employed in similar service, where, he destroyedtwelve paraos. Being joined by six brigantines and a galley, with 100chosen men, commanded by Christopher de Melo, the united squadron took avery large ship laden with pepper in the river _Chale_, though defendedby numerous artillery and 800 men. Near _Monte-Hermosa_, they defeated50 sail of vessels belonging to Calicut, taking three paraos with aconsiderable number of cannon and many men. Hector de Sylveira, who hadbeen left on the coast of Cambaya, did much damage to the enemy. Goingup the river _Nagotana_ of _Bazain_, he landed and burnt six townsbelonging to the king of Cambaya. The commander of _Nagotana_ took thefield against him with five hundred horse and a large force of infantry,endeavouring to intercept Sylveira on his way to reimbark. An engagementtook place, in which the enemy were repulsed with some loss, andSylveira was enabled to embark. Going afterwards to _Bazain_, on ariver, of the same name, he found that place well fortified and defendedby a considerable number of cannon. He entered the river however duringthe night, and next morning stormed the fortifications of Bazain,killing many of the defendents. After this success, he was unexpectedlyattacked by Alexiath at the head of 3500 men; but he bravely repelledand defeated that vastly superior force with great slaughter, afterwhich he plundered and burnt the city of Bazuin. Terrified by theseexploits, the lord of the great city of Tana, not far distant,submitted to become tributary to Portugal, and Sylveira retired toChaul.

While these things were doing on the coast of Hindostan, Simon de SousaGalvam, on his way to the Moluccas in a galley with seventy men wasdriven by a storm to take shelter, in the port of Acheen. Severalvessels flocked immediately about him, on pretence of giving assistance,but the natives were no sooner on board than they fell upon the seventyPortuguese, with all kinds of weapons. Recovering from their firstsurprise, the Portuguese bravely drove the enemy from their ship,although not more than twenty were left that could stand to their arms.The king of Acheen gave orders to his admiral to attack the Portuguesegalley next morning; when, after a desperate resistance, most of thePortuguese were slain and Galvam among them; only those being spared whowere so severely wounded as to be unable to resist. Don George deMenezes, who commanded at the Moluccas, sent a party to Tidore againstthe Spaniards; but on the rout of that party, Menezes collected aconsiderable allied force, consisting of the people of Ternate, the_Sangages_, and the subjects of Cachil Daroez king of _Bacham_. Withthese and a small number of Portuguese, Menezes landed in Tidore, wherehe defeated the Spaniards and troops of Tidore, obliging the former toretire into their fort after losing six men, two of whom were slain andfour taken. Menezes then assaulted and took the city of Tidore, which heplundered and burnt; after which he invested the Spanish fort, andsummoned Ferdinando de la Torre the Spanish commander to surrender.Being unable to resist, the Spanish captain agreed to evacuate Tidore,retiring to the city of Comafo, and engaging to commit no hostilitiesupon the Portuguese or their allies, and not to trade to any of theislands producing cloves. After this the king of Tidore was madetributary to the Portuguese, and Menezes returned victorious to Ternate.

During his absence, _Bohaat_ king of Tidore had died, not withoutsuspicion of having been poisoned by _Cachil Daroez_, and was succeededby his brother _Cachil Daialo_. The new king being suspicious of _CachilVaiaco_, fled to the fort; but afraid that Menezes might give him up tohis enemy, threw himself from a window. All Ternate now mutinied againstMenezes; and as he imagined that _Cachil Vaideca_, a noble of Tidore,had caused the death of a Chinese sow belonging to him, he imprisonedthat nobleman, after which he set him free, having first anointed hisface with bacon, which among that people is reckoned a most heinousaffront. Not contented with this violence, he sent to rob the houses ofthe _Moors_ of their provisions, and became suddenly most outrageous andtyrannical. The _Moors_ stood upon their defence, and treated some ofthe Portuguese as they now deserved. Menezes seized the chief magistrateof the town of _Tabona_ and two other persons of note. These two he setat liberty after cutting off their hands; but he let loose two fiercedogs against the magistrate, which tore him in pieces. Becoming odiousto all by these cruelties, _Cachil Daroez_ stirred up the natives toexpel the Portuguese; but being made prisoner, Menezes caused him to bebeheaded. Terrified by this tyranny, the inhabitants of Ternate fled toother places, the city becoming entirely deserted. Don George de Menezeswas afterwards sent a prisoner to India for these enormities, whence hewas sent to Portugal, where he was condemned to banishment. Any rewardwas too small for his former services, and this punishment was tooslight for his present offences.

Nuno de Cuna, appointed governor-general of India, arrived in May 1529at Ormuz. Setting out too late from Lisbon in the year before witheleven ships, he had a tedious voyage. One of his ships was lost nearCape Verd, when 150 men perished. After passing the line, the fleet wasdispersed in a violent storm. Nuno put in at the port of St Jago inMadagascar, where he found a naked Portuguese soldier, who had belongedto one of two ships commanded by Lacerda and Abreu, which were cast awayin 1527 at this place. The people fortified themselves there, in hopesthat some ships passing that way might take them up. After waiting ayear, one ship passed but could not come to their assistance; and beingno longer able to subsist at that place, they marched up the country intwo bodies to seek their fortunes, leaving this man behind sick. Inconsequence of intelligence of these events sent home to Portugal byNuno, Duarte and Diego de Fonseca were sent out in search of these men.Duarte perished in Madagascar; and Diego found only four Portuguese andone Frenchman, who had belonged to three French ships that were castaway on that island. These men said that many of their companions werestill alive in the interior, but they could not be got at. From these itwas thought had sprung a people that wore found in Madagascar abouteighty years afterwards. This people alleged that a Portuguese captain,having suffered shipwreck on the coast, had conquered a district of theisland over which he became sovereign; and all his men taking wives fromamong the natives, had left numerous issue, who had erred much inmatters of faith. _Great indeed must have been their errors, to havebeen discovered by the atheistical Hollanders!_ Doubtless these peopledid not descend from that shipwreck only, but might have sprung likewisefrom the first discoverers, _who were never heard of_, and among othersfrom three ships that sailed from Cochin in 1530 along with Francisco deAlbuquerque.

While Nuno was at Madagascar, his own ship perished in a storm. The menwere saved in the other two ships, but much goods and arms were lost.Sailing thence to Zanzibar, he landed 200 of his men who were sick,under the care of Alexius de Sousa Chichorro, with orders to go toMelinda when the people were recovered. Being unable to continue hisvoyage to India, on account of the trade wind being adverse, hedetermined upon taking revenge upon the king of Mombaza, who infestedthose of Melinda and Zanzibar from hatred to the Portuguese. Ifsuccessful, he proposed to have raised _Munho Mahomet_ to the throne,who was son to him who had received De Gama on his first voyage with somuch kindness. Mahomet however objected to this honour, saying, "That hewas not deserving of the crown, being born of a Kafr slave: But if Nunowished to reward the friendship of his father, he might confer the crownon his brother _Cide Bubac_, a younger son of his father by a legitimatewife, and who was therefore of the royal blood of the kings of Quiloa."Nuno set off on this expedition with 800 men, accompanied by Mahomet andBubac, each of whom had sixty followers. On the way he was joined by thesheikh of _Otonda_, a neighbouring town, who offered to accompany himwith a well appointed vessel. This prince had silver chains on his legs,which he wore as a memorial of having been wrongfully imprisoned by theking of Mombaza, and had sworn never to take them off till revenged,having been so used merely because he had shewn friendship to thePortuguese.

Having been apprized of the intended attack, the king of Mombaza hadprovided for his defence, by planting cannons on a fort or bulwark atthe mouth of the river, and brought 600 expert archers into the city.Though opposed by a heavy cannonade from the bulwark, Nuno forced hisway up the river and anchored in the evening close to the city, whencethe archers shot continual flights of arrows into the ships, and wereanswered by the Portuguese cannon. Next morning early the troops werelanded under Pedro Vaz, brother to Nuno, who carried all before him, andplanted the Portuguese colours, after killing many of the Moors anddriving the rest from the city, without losing a single Portuguesesoldier. To secure and repeople the city, Nuno sent for a nephew of theking of Melinda, who came with 500 men, many of whom were of some rank;and these were followed by the prince of Montangue with 200 more. Manylikewise of the former inhabitants came in and submitted, so that theisland began to reassume an appearance of prosperity. The expelled king,sensible of the desperate situation of affairs, sent one of hisprincipal men to propose an accommodation, offering to pay a ransom topreserve his city from destruction, and to become tributary. Anagreement was accordingly entered into to this effect, and the kingbegan to make the stipulated payments; but finding sickness to prevailamong the Portuguese of whom two hundred soon died, and many more wereincapacitated from service, he began to fall off from the completion ofthe agreement, and as the prince of Melinda durst not undertake todefend the place without a considerable force of Portuguese, Nunodestroyed the city by fire and returned to Melinda, carrying with himthose he had formerly left sick at Zanzibar. Leaving Melinda, he left 80of his men there sick, to be carried to India on their recovery byTristan Homem: who afterwards defended Melinda with these men againstthe king of Mombaza, who endeavoured to revenge himself there for theinjury he had sustained from the Portuguese.

It has been formerly mentioned that Nuno de Cuna arrived at Ormuz in May1529, into which he made a formal and pompous entry, to the greatadmiration of the natives. He immediately issued a proclamation at thatplace and its dependencies, "That all who had cause of complaint againstthe Portuguese should appear before him for redress." Many complainersaccordingly came forwards, and the offenders were obliged to makerestitution, to the great astonishment and satisfaction of the Moors,who had not been accustomed to see justice executed on their behalf. Hefound that _Reis Xarafo_; great _guazil_[179] or rather arch tyrant overthe king and people of Ormuz, though restored to that situation bySampayo, was by no means clear of the great crimes he had been formerlyaccused of, particularly of rapine and murder. On a representation ofthis to the king of Portugal, Manuel de Macedo had orders to bring himprisoner to Lisbon, and accordingly had him arrested by the assistanceof Nuno, who waited upon the king of Ormuz to justify this procedure.The king readily acquiesced, and presented the governor with a richpresent of jewels and cloth of gold, together with a fine horse richlycaparisoned in the Persian manner. As the reigning king was implicatedin the murder of his predecessor Mahomet, Nuno imposed upon him a fineof 40,000 Xerephines, in addition to the tribute of 60,000 which he hadto pay yearly; that crime being used as a pretence to overburthen himwith a tribute equal to a third part of the yearly revenue ofOrmuz[180]. Xarafo, or Ashraf, was sent to Portugal with examinationsrespecting the crimes laid to his charge; but he carried such richesalong with him, that he was not only able to purchase a remission ofpunishment, but was actually reinstated in his former employment. WhileNuno still remained at Ormuz, Tavarez de Sousa came there, who had beenwith forty men to assist the king of _Basrah_ against the lord of_Gizaira_[181]; having been the first Portuguese who went up the riversTigris and Euphrates. Basrah or Bazora, in about the lat. of 30 deg. N. isabout 30 leagues from the mouth of the great river Euphrates, andreceived its name in commemoration of the more ancient city of Basrah,eight leagues higher up, the ruins of which are said by eye-witnesses tobe twice as extensive as the city of Grand Cairo. The island of Gizaira,or Jazirat, is formed by the two rivers Tigris and Euphrates, beingabout 40 leagues in circumference, and is said to contain 40,000archers. The river Tigris rises among the _Curds_ in the greaterArmenia, and the springs of the Euphrates are in Turkomania. The kingof Basrah received Sousa with much state, and appeared greatly satisfiedat his assistance. Sousa accompanied him on his expedition against thelord of Jazirat, the infantry of Basrah amounting to 5000 men, 600 ofwhom carried firelocks, were conveyed up the river in 200 _dalacs_ orlarge boats, accompanied by seven vessels full of Turks with aconsiderable number of cannon. The king went along with his infantry bywater, while his nephew marched by land at the head of 3000 horse. Theking established his camp on the right or Arabian side of the river,opposite to the encampment of the lord of Jazirat, who was, posted onthe island with 12,000 men. By order of the king of Basrah, Sousa wroteto the lord of Jazirat, saying that he was sent by the Portuguesecommander of Ormuz, either to make peace between the contending partieson reasonable terms, or in case of refusal to take part with the king ofBasrah. The king of Jazirat made answer, that as this was the firstrequest of the captain of Ormuz, and as Sousa was the first Portuguesewho had come into these parts, he agreed to comply with the termsdemanded, which were merely the restoration of certain forts belongingto the king of Basrah which he had taken possession of. Persons wereaccordingly appointed on both sides to treat for an accommodation, whichwas satisfactorily concluded. But the king of Basrah now refused toperform what he had promised to Sousa for his aid; which was to deliverup the seven Turkish vessels, and not to admit any more of that nationinto his dominions, because enemies of the Portuguese. Enraged at thisbreach of compact Sousa after embarking with his men, took one of thelarge barks belonging to Basrah, after which he landed with thirty-sixof his men and burnt a town of 300 houses on the Arabian side of theriver, and a smaller one on the Persian side.

[Footnote 179: In Astley, I. 80, this person is named Reis or _RaezAshraf, Wazir_ or Visier of Ormuz. The strange title in the text, _greatguazil_, is probably a translation of _Alguazil mayor_, giving aPortuguese or rather a Spanish denomination to an Arab officer.--E.]

[Footnote 180: On a former occasion, the Xerephine was stated as equalin value to 3s. 9d. Hence the total revenue of Ormuz was only aboutL.83,750 yearly: The tribute to Portugal L.11,250; and the fine L.7500.It is true that the value of money was then much greater than now, andthese sums for comparison with our present money of account may perhapsbe fairly rated at L.837,500, L.112,500 and L.75,000 respectively, or_ten_ times their numerical amount in 1529.--E.]

[Footnote 181: Called Jazirat by the Editor of Astleys Collection.]

In reward to Sousa for his gallantry, Nuno gave him the command in thePersian Gulf, and sent him to Bahrayn at the request of the king ofOrmuz, to reduce Reis Barbadim who had revolted. But as Sousa had not asufficient force for this purpose, Simon de Cuna was sent there witheight vessels and 400 men, besides a native force in the barks of thecountry. Joining Sousa, the fort of Bahrayn was battered for three days;but powder running short, they had to send to Ormuz for a supply, and inthe mean time the Portuguese sickened so fast, owing to theunhealthiness of the climate that above an hundred of them died, andeven the Persian soldiers belonging to Ormuz, though accustomed to theclimate, were in very little better condition, insomuch that they had togive up the siege and return to Ormuz, where Simon de Sousa died.

In the mean time Nuno de Cuna, leaving Ormuz, arrived at Goa in thelatter end of October 1529, where he found four ships just arrived fromLisbon after a prosperous voyage with a reinforcement of 1500 men all inperfect health, not having lost a man by the way except one captain.Nuno made a solemn entry into the city, where he found a powerful fleetof 140 vessels, which had all been provided by the former governor, LopeVaz de Sampayo. The most considerable of these were six galleons, eightroyal gallies, six caravels, and fourteen galliots, all well providedwith cannon and military stores; for though Sampayo had usurped thegovernment, he had conducted it better than many of those who hadreceived regular appointments. Finding it necessary to proceed toCochin, to dispatch the homeward trade, he stopped at Cananor, whereSampayo then was, who came on board and resigned the government with theusual solemnities. Sampayo was inclined to have landed again at Cananor,but Nuno ordered him to go along with him to Cochin, and published aproclamation that all who had been wronged by Sampayo might repair tothe new governor, who would do them justice. Sampayo complained of thisas a libel against him, as those who had complaints to make needed notto be invited by sound of trumpet. On arriving at Cochin, Nuno orderedSampayo to be imprisoned and an inventory to be taken of all hiseffects, all of which were directed to be deposited in safe custody andsent to Lisbon, to be there delivered as the king might direct. On beingtaken into custody, Sampayo desired the officer to say to Nuno, "Iimprisoned others, you imprison me, and there will come one who willimprison you." To this message Nuno answered, "Doubtless I may beimprisoned; but the difference between us will be, that Sampayo deservesit, and I shall not." Neither was Sampayo wrong, as Nuno had certainlybeen taken into custody in Portugal on his return if he had not died bythe way. Sampayo was treated with much and improper severity: the worstship in the fleet being appointed for him, with only two servants, andbarely as much of his own wealth as sufficed for the expence of hisvoyage.

On his arrival at the Tercera islands an officer was in waiting to putSampayo in irons, with which he landed at Lisbon and was carried to adungeon in the castle, in which was confined at the same time ReisXarafo the visier of Ormuz. After two years confinement, the chief crimealleged against him being his unjust proceedings in regard to Pedro deMascarenas, the duke of Braganza took pity on the misfortunes of thisbrave gentleman, and prevailed on the king to give him a hearing incouncil. Accordingly, the king being seated in council surrounded by thejudges, Sampayo was brought before him, having his face covered by along and thick white beard, and with such tokens of misery which he hadendured in almost three years imprisonment, counting from his arrest inIndia, that even Mascarenas or any other of his enemies might havethought themselves sufficiently revenged. Being put to the bar, afterreceiving the kings permission, he made a copious and comprehensivespeech with an undaunted countenance, in his justification. Afterenumerating the services of his ancestors and immediate progenitors tothe crown, he particularized his own from his early youth to the periodof his imprisonment, and commented upon the injuries which had beensince done to him. He exposed the malice of his accusers, and justifiedhis own proceedings. By many apt examples of others who had been guiltyeven of greater crimes than those of which he was accused, and who hadbeen pardoned in consideration of their services, he drew a parallelbetween himself and these persons, and concluded by throwing himselfentirely on the justice and mercy of his majesty; from one or other ofwhich he trusted to receive a discharge, and hoped to have more cause ofthankfulness for the future, than he had of complaint till then of thehard usage he had been subjected to.

Having listened to him attentively, the king examined him in regard toeach separate article of his impeachment, forty-three in all, to everyone of which he gave apt answers. The principal article alleged againsthim related to Pedro Mascarenas, all the others being such as wouldnever have been thought of except to fill up the measure of accusation.Being carried back to the castle, he sent in his defence in writing, asis usual in such cases. In the end, he was sentenced to forfeit all hisallowances as governor; to pay Mascarenas a compensation of 10,000ducats; and to be banished into Africa. He contrived however to get intoSpain, where he disnaturalized himself, as had been done by the famousMagellan; and wrote a letter from Badajos to the king, in which heaffirmed that his sentence was unjust, and declared his resolution totry, by changing his country, to better his fortune and restore hishonour. In consequence of this he was restored to his country.

We must now return to the affairs of India, where Diego Sylveira reducedthe people of Calicut to such straits that the zamorin was constrainedto sue to Nuno de Cuna for peace. This was granted on certain terms,part of which the zamorin was willing to accept, but rejected the rest;on which Sylveira reduced the city to extreme distress, by interceptingall provisions. Some relief was received however from Cananor, and Simonde Sousa being driven in his brigantine on shore, was blown up whilebravely defending himself against the Moors.

Malek Saca[182] being expelled from Diu, found it expedient forcompassing his ends with the king of Cambaya, to employ similarartifices with Nuno de Cuna as had been formerly practised with Hectorde Sylveira, by offering to deliver up the city to him. Accordingly hewrote to Nuno, that although he could not now deliver up Diu, he wouldassist him to reduce it; and as it was convenient that a meeting shouldtake place between the governor and Malek Saca, Nuno sent him a safeconduct, and ships to transport him and his retinue, commanded by GasparPaez, who had formerly been known to Malek Saca at Diu. On this occasionMalek Saca granted every condition required, not meaning to perform any,and made use of this sham alliance to get himself restored to the favourof the king of Cambaya, putting off Paez with various artifices, underpretence that the safe conduct was not securely expressed, and thatthere were too few ships. In revenge of this deceit, Paez was only ableto burn nine small barks belonging to Malek Saca. Being much enraged atthe duplicity of Malek, Nuno began to make preparations for thereduction of Diu. In the mean time, he visited and conciliated the rajahof Cochin, who had been much displeased with the conduct of Lope VazSampayo and Alfonso Mexia. He went next to Goa, whence he visited theking at _Chale_, and satisfied him in all things. About the middle ofFebruary 1530 he came to Cananor, the king of which place he gratifiedby conforming to the ceremonials of his court; and being offered apresent of jewels, he accepted them lest he should affront that prince,but delivered them over to the officers of the revenue, as belonging tothe king of Portugal.

[Footnote 182: He is stated on a former occasion to have been the son ofMalek Azz.--E.]

At this time a rich merchant of Mangalore did great injury to thePortuguese, as he favoured the zamorin of Calicut though living in thedominions of the king of Narsinga who was in friendship with thePortuguese. Diego de Sylveira was ordered to punish that man, and wentaccordingly against him with a force of 450 men and sixteen vessels. Heaccordingly entered the river of Mangalore, where he was opposed by agreat number of ships belonging to the Moorish merchant, which were putto flight after a short contest. Sylveira then landed with 240 men andentered the town without opposition, after which he took the fort whencethe merchant endeavoured to escape, but was slain by a musquet-ball. Avast booty fell into the hands of the Portuguese, but Sylveira orderedit all to be burnt, lest he might endanger his ships by overloadingthem. As winter was coming on Sylveira dismissed half of his fleet, yetafterwards had occasion for them all, as he soon after encountered _PatiMarcar_, a commander belonging to Calicut, who was going to Mangalorewith sixty paraos. The weather prevented him from fighting at that time;but Sylveira waited the return of the Calicut fleet, to which he gavebattle off Mount Dely, and sank six paraos, after which he returned toCochin. In the same year 1530, Antonio de Sylveira commanded on thecoast of Cambaya with fifty-one sail of vessels, three of which weregallies and two galliots, in which were 900 Portuguese soldiers. Withthis force he went up the river Taptee where he burnt Surat and Reyner,the chiefest towns in that part of India. Surat on one side of the rivercontained 10,000 families, mostly Banians[183] and handicrafts of nocourage; while Reyner on the other side of the river had six thousandhouses inhabited by a warlike race, and was well fortified. On sounding,the river was found too shallow for the larger vessels, which were leftoff the bar under the command of Francisco de Vasconcelles; while withthe smaller, Sylveira went up the river about four miles to Surat. Hethere found 300 horse and nearly 10,000 foot drawn up to oppose hislanding, all well armed with bows and firelocks; but after one dischargethis vast multitude fled in dismay without waiting an attack. The cityof Surat was then entered without farther resistance, and beingplundered of every thing worth carrying off was set on fire with someships that were in its arsenal. The city of Reyner stood a little higherup on the other side, and was inhabited by the _Nayteas Moors_, a raceof more courage and policy than the Banians; yet they fled almost at thefirst fire, leaving all their property to the Portuguese, who had allbeen enriched if they had been able to carry away the whole plunder.Having removed all that their ships could carry, the town was set onfire, together with twenty ships and many small vessels. In both actionsEmanuel de Sousa was conspicuously valiant, being the first to land withmuch danger, especially in the latter, where he was opposed by anumerous artillery. On returning to the mouth of the river, Sylveirafound, that Vasconcelles had taken six vessels bound with provisions forDiu. After this, Antonio de Sylveira destroyed the towns of Daman andAgazem on the coast, at the latter of which places 300 vessels belongingto the enemy were burnt.

[Footnote 183: Called Bancanes in the text of De Faria; perhaps an errorof the press for Banianes or Banzanes.--E.]

On the 21st of January 1530, Hector de Sylveira sailed from Goa for theRed Sea with ten ships and 600 men. Spreading his fleet across the mouthof that sea, that no enemy might escape, several rich ships werecaptured. Appearing afterwards before _Aden_, Hector induced the sheikhof that place to submit to the crown of Portugal, and to an yearlytribute of 12,000 Xerephines. The sheikh of _Zael_, who had only a shorttime before accompanied _Mustapha_, a Turkish captain, with 20,000 mento make war upon Aden, submitted to similar terms.

Having completed his preparations for the expedition against Diu, Nunode Cuna sailed early in the year 1531 with a great fleet and army forthat place. In a general review at the Island of Bombay, the fleetconsisted of above 400 sail of all kinds of vessels, many of which werelarge, more indifferent, and most of them small; some being only_sutlers_, fitted out by the natives for private gain. On board thisfleet were 3600 soldiers and 1450 seamen all Portuguese, besides above2000 Canara and Malabar soldiers, 8000 slaves, and about 5000 nativeseamen. Landing at Daman, a fort belonging to the king of Cairibaya,which was immediately evacuated by the Moors, advice was brought thatthe Arabs, Turks, and others, to the number of 2000 men, had fortifiedthemselves in the Island of _Beth,_ seven leagues from Diu. This placewas so strong by art and nature, environed with rocks andfortifications, that Nuno gave no credit to the accounts respecting ittill convinced by inspection. Coming before Beth on the 7th of February,he summoned the garrison to surrender; but many of them shaved theirheads, as devoting themselves to death or victory, which they callmaking themselves _amoucos[184]._ The commandant of the barbarians gavea brutal example of determined and savage resolution, by throwing hiswife, son, and goods into a fire made on purpose, in which they were allconsumed; that if the Portuguese succeeded in the enterprise, they mightonly gain a heap of ashes. His example was followed by others. Beingresolved to carry this place, Nuno made dispositions for an assault,dividing his force into six bodies, which were ordered to attack in sixdifferent places at the same time. After a desperate conflict the placewas taken, in which 1800 of the enemy were slain, and sixty cannonstaken.

[Footnote 184: Corruptly called by the British in India running amuck.--E.]

Departing from Beth, Nuno appeared with his powerful armament beforeDiu. This city is built upon rocks, and is entirely encompassed by rocksand water. The entrance into the river or haven was shut up by massychains suspended upon vessels, behind which eighty vessels were drawn upfull of archers and musqueteers to defend the passage. The garrisonconsisted of 10,000 men, with a prodigious number of cannon. On the 16thof February, the signal was given for the attack, but after fighting thewhole day without gaining any advantage, and having suffered some loss,it was determined in a council of war to desist from the enterprise as.impracticable. It was agreed by all, that if so much time had not beenfruitlessly employed in the capture of Beth, Diu must have fallen; as ithad been reinforced only three, days before the arrival of thePortuguese by a Turk named Mustapha, who was the principal cause of itsbrave and effectual resistance. Nuno returned with the principal part ofhis fleet and army to Goa, where he arrived on the 15th of March,leaving Antonio de Saldanna with 60 vessels in the Bay of Cambaya toannoy the enemy.

After the departure of the Portuguese fleet, Mustapha presented himselfbefore _Badur_ king of Cambaya, who received him honourably, giving himthe command of _Baroach_ in the Bay of Cambaya, with the title ofRumi-khan. He was called Kami, as having been born in Greece; as theMoors of India, being ignorant of the divisions of the Europeanprovinces, call the whole of Thrace, Greece, Sclavonia, and the adjacentcountries by the general name of _Rum,_ and the inhabitants _Rumi_though that term ought only to be applied to Thrace, the modern_Romania._ The _Turks_ and _Rumes_ are different nations; the formerbeing originally from Turkistan, and the natives of Greece and Thraceconsider themselves as of more honourable descent than the Turks[185].The tide of _Khan_ now bestowed on Mustapha is a dignity among theTartars equivalent to that of _Duke_ in Europe, and is bestowed in theeast on persons of distinguished merit.

[Footnote 185: On a former occasion, the name of Kami has been mentionedas universally given in India to the Turks as coming in place of theRomans. DeFaria therefore was mistaken in deriving it from the provinceof Romania or Thrace.--E.]

Antonio de Saldanna, who was left in command of the sea of Cambaya, with60 vessels and 1500 men, took and burnt the town of _Madrefavat,_[186]five leagues from Diu towards Beth. He then went against Gogo,twenty-four leagues farther, formerly a strong and populous place ofgreat trade. There were fifteen of the largest paraos belonging toCalicut at that time in the port laden with spice, which took shelter ina creek, and were followed by Saldanna with 800 men in the smallervessels. Finding it necessary to land, he was opposed by 300 horse and800 foot that came to defend the Makbars; but after a sharp encounter,in which 200 of the enemy were slain, they were constrained to abandonthe vessels, which were all burnt; after which Saldanna destroyed thetown of Gogo and eight ships that were in the port He afterwardsdestroyed the towns of Belsa, Tarapor, Mail, Kelme, and Agasim, andlastly Surat, which was beginning to revive from its former destruction.Having thus ravaged the coast of Cambaya, he returned to Goa. About thistime a brother of the king of Cambaya, who was rightful heir to thatcrown, came into the hands of Nuno; who expected through his means toobtain what had been so long desired, the possession of Diu, and thecommand of the trade of Cambaya.

[Footnote 185: On a former occasion, the name of Kami has been mentionedas universally given in India to the Turks as coming in place of theRomans. DeFaria therefore was mistaken in deriving it from the provinceof Romania or Thrace.--E.]

[Footnote 186: Perhaps that now called Jaffrabad.--E.]

About this time the Portuguese cruisers had taken twenty-seven shipsbelonging to the zamorin, all richly laden. Being perplexed by the greatlosses he was continually sustaining through the Portuguese superiorityat sea, the sovereign of Calicut made overtures towards anaccommodation; and in a treaty of peace gave permission to thegovernor-general to build a fort in the island of _Chale_, in a riverthat falls into the sea about three leagues from Calicut, which isnavigable by boats all the way to the foot of the _Gaut_ mountains._Urinama_, a heathen, was at this time rajah of _Chale_, and both he andthe neighbouring rajah of Tanore, who were subjects to the zamorin, wereanxious to throw off their subjection to that prince, and to enter intoalliance with the Portuguese, in hopes of becoming rich by participatingin their trade. Immediately upon procuring the consent of the zamorin toconstruct the fort, Nuno set out from Goa with 150 sail of vessels, inwhich were 3000 Portuguese troops and 1000 native _Lascarines_. So muchdiligence was used in carrying on the work, even the gentlemenparticipating in the labour, that in twenty-six days it was in adefensible situation, being surrounded by a rampart nine feet thick andof sufficient height, strengthened by towers and bastions or bulwarks atproper places. Within the fort a church was built, together with a housefor the commander, barracks for the soldiers, and store-houses fortrade. Diego de Pereira, who had negotiated the treaty with the zamorin,was left in command of this new fortress, with a garrison of 250 men;and Manuel de Sousa had orders to secure its safety by sea, with asquadron of twenty-two vessels. The zamorin soon repented of havingallowed this fort to be built in his dominions, and used ineffectualendeavours to induce the rajah of Chale, Caramanlii, and Tanore to breakwith the Portuguese, even going to war against them, but to no purpose.

About the end of February 1532, Emanuel de Vasconcelles was sent to theRed Sea with two galliots and several brigantines to cruise against theTurks. Off Xael he captured several Turkish vessels, among which, was alarge ship, named _Cufturca,_ which was sent to Muscat. The king ofXael, fearful of danger, made his peace with Vasconcelles. Soonafterwards Antonio de Saldanna arrived with ten ships to take thecommand in the Red Sea, who was dissatisfied with the terms entered intowith the sheikh of Xael, on which that prince sent all the valuablesbelonging to the town, together with the women and children into theinterior, that he might provide for defence; but being obliged to quitthe Red Sea on account of the weather, Saldanna sailed first to Muscatand thence to Diu, where he took several vessels belonging to the enemy,among which was one in which he got above 60,000 Venetian chequins.About the same time Diego de Sylveira plundered and burnt Puttun, a citytwelve leagues from Diu, and destroyed four ships that were in theharbour. He acted in a similar manner at Pate and Mangalore and otherplaces, and returned to Goa with above 4000 slaves and an infinitebooty.

All this encouraged Nuno de Cuna to continue hostilities against Diu andthe king of Cambaya, in hopes of constraining him to allow of theconstruction of a fort in that city. _Malek Tocam_[187], lord of Diu,was then fortifying the city of Basseen, and as that place might proveinjurious to the designs of Nuno against Cambaya, he determined todestroy it. For this purpose he fitted out a fleet of 150 vessels, inwhich he embarked with 3000 Portuguese soldiers and 200 native Canarins.Tocam on hearing of this expedition, left a garrison of 12,000 men inBasseen and retired to Diu. Despising the danger of attacking suchsuperior numbers, Nuno landed his troops and took Basseen by assault, inwhich action 600 of the enemy were slain, and only eight or nine on theside of the Portuguese. Having ravaged the surrounding country and razedthe fortifications of Basseen, Emanuel de Albuquerque was sent withtwelve vessels and 300 men to destroy the fort of Daman, which he wasunable to accomplish. He burnt however all the towns upon the coast from_Basseen_ to _Tarapor_, and reduced _Tanua_, _Bandora_, _Maii_, and_Bombay_ to become tributary. About this time orders were sent fromPortugal that all the commanders of forts in India should make oath ofobedience to the governor-general, whence it appears that till then theywere in a great measure independent.

[Footnote 187: The lord of Diu only a little before was named Malek_Saca_; but De Faria gives no intimation of any revolution, except bychange of name. Yet from the sequel it is evident this person was theson of Malek Azz.--E.]

About this time Malek Tocam, lord of Diu, desired Nuno to send a properperson to him with whom he might treat of an important affair, he beingat that time apprehensive that the king of Cambaya meant to deprive himof his government. Vasco de Cuna was accordingly sent on this embassy,with instructions to procure the surrender of Diu, but was unsuccessful.At the same time Tristan de Ga pressed the king of Cambaya to allow ofbuilding a fort at Diu, and Badur expressed a desire of conferring withthe governor-general on the subject, though his real design was to killhim rather than grant permission to build a fort. Nuno went accordinglyto Diu with a fleet of 100 sail and 2000 Portuguese troops; but the kingwho was then at Diu delayed the interview on various pretences, anddesired Nuno to send some of his principal captains to wait upon him.They went accordingly richly dressed and were splendidly received. Whilein discourse with the king, Emanuel de Macedo took the liberty, yet in arespectful manner, to say "That he wondered much his majesty shoulddeprive Malek Tocam of the government of the city, who had not onlyserved him faithfully, but was the son of one who had performed manysignal services and had long enjoyed his favour, and that he shouldbestow the command on _Mustapha Rumi Khan_, whose principal merit wasdisloyalty to the _Grand Turk_, his natural prince." He added, that ifMustapha denied this, he challenged him to combat, either hand to hand,or in any other manner he might think fit. _Rumi Khan_ was present, butmade no answer, till the king looking angrily at him, he said hissilence proceeded from contempt. Macedo repeated the challenge, and theTurk, no longer able to shun it with a good grace, agreed to fight himat sea. But this challenge took no effect, as the parties could notagree upon the terms of combat. Being unable to come to any agreementwith the king of Cambaya, Nuno de Cuna entered into a league with_Humayun_[188] padishah, or emperor of the Moguls, and returned to Goa,dispatching several of his captains with squadrons to different places.

[Footnote 188: In De Faria called _Omaum Patxath_, king of theMoguls.--E.]

At this time, _Cunale Marcar_, a bold pirate, scoured the seas aboutCalicut with eight vessels well equipped and full of men. One night offCape Comorin he surprised a Portuguese brigantine at anchor, in whichwere twenty-one Portuguese, all so fast asleep that they were boundbefore they waked. He caused their heads to be bruised to pieces, topunish them for daring to sleep while he was at sea, _a merry cruelty_.From thence _Cunale_ went to Negapatnam on the coast of Coromandel,where there were forty Portuguese, who defended themselves to nopurpose, as the degar or governor of that place agreed with Cunale torob them. Khojah Marcar, though a relation of Cunale, used hisendeavours to deliver the Portuguese from this danger, by instillingmutual jealousy into the Degar and Cunale, who however took somePortuguese vessels then in the river at Negapatnam, and shot eight oftheir men. Antonio de Silva was sent against him from Cochin with 200musqueteers in fifteen small vessels, on which Cunale took refuge in abay on the coast called _Canamnera_, where he fortified himself. ButAntonio forced him to make his escape in the habit of a beggar toCalicut, leaving his vessels and cannon, with which Antonio returned toCochin.

In 1534 Martin Alfonso de Sousa, Portuguese admiral in India, took thefort of Daman; and Badur king of Cambaya, fearing still greater losses,and finding his trade completely interrupted, made peace with Nuno, onthe following conditions. The fort of Basseen with all its dependencieswas ceded to the crown of Portugal: All ships bound from the kingdom ofCambaya for the Red Sea, were to come in the first place to Basseen, andto touch there on their return, paying certain duties to the crown ofPortugal: No ships belonging to Cambaya were to trade to any other partswithout licence from the Portuguese government: No ships of war were tobe built in any of the ports belonging to Cambaya: The king of Cambayawas on no account to give any assistance to the _Rumes_ or Turks. Therewere other articles in favour of the king of Cambaya, to render theharshness of these more palatable; and even these were afterwardsmoderated when he gave permission for building a fort at Diu.

The kingdom of Guzerat, commonly called Cambaya from the name of itsmetropolis, extends from Cape _Jaquet_ or _Jigat_ in the west, to theriver _Nagotana_ near _Chaul_, within which limits there is a large anddeep bay or gulf having the same name with the capital, in which bay thesea ebbs and flows with wonderful rapidity, insomuch that any ship thatis caught in this tremendous _bore_ certainly perishes. To avoid thisdanger, there is always a man stationed on an eminence, who gives noticewith a horn when he sees the approach of this torrent. The distancebetween Cape _Jigat_ and the river of Nagotana is above 200 leagues. Onthe west Guzerat borders on the _Resbuti_ or _Rajputs_, a peopledwelling in a mountainous country.[189] On the north it joins with thekingdom of _Chitor_[190]: On the east with that of _Pale_.[191] Thecoast is covered by numerous towns and cities. It is watered by twofamous rivers, the _Taptii_ and _Tapei_[192] by many creeks that formseveral islands. Guzerat is all plain, so that they generally travel inwaggons, as in Flanders, but lighter made, which are easily drawn byoxen, smaller than those of Spain. The country breeds cattle in greatabundance, and plenty of provisions of all sorts. The natives are offour different kinds. The first called _Baneanes Baganzariis_, feedafter our manner: The second called simply _Baneanes_[193], who eat ofnothing that hath life. Their priests are called _Vertias_, who areclothed in white, and never change their apparel till it falls inpieces. These live altogether on charity; and, like the children ofIsrael in the desert, they never keep any thing for the next day. Theyplace their greatest hope of salvation in abstaining from killing anycreature whatever, and even use no light at night, lest any moth shouldfly into the flame; and always carry a broom to sweep the ground theytread on, that they may not trample any worm or insect to death. Thethird race consists of the _Resbuti_ or _Rajputs_, who are goodsoldiers, and to whom formerly the kingdom belonged. These peopleacknowledge _one God in three persons, and worship the blessed Virgin_,a doctrine which they have preserved ever since the time of theapostles[194]. The fourth and last class of inhabitants are theMahometans called _Lauteas_, consisting both of strangers who haveconquered the country, and natives who have embraced that religion. Theinhabitants of Guzerat are very ingenious mechanics in works of silk,gold, ivory, mother-of-pearl, tortoise-shell, crystal, ebony, and otherarticles. They follow the rules of Pythagoras, killing no creature; butrather buy all, though even venomous, from those who take them, onpurpose to set them free. They have even a set of men whose onlyemployment is to go about the towns and fields looking out for sickbeasts, which are tended with great care in hospitals built on purpose.Yet in spite of all this charity to the brute creation, they are devoidof human kindness, and will not reach out their hand to help a fellowcreature in the utmost need.

[Footnote 189: These mountains are in the middle of Guzerat, which theypervade in a range of considerable length from N.E. to S.W.--E.]

[Footnote 190: More properly _Agimere_, in which is the town or city of_Cheitore_, whence the name in the text.--E.]

[Footnote 191: Malwa, one of the kingdoms or _Soubahs_ of Hindostan isto the east of Guzerat. The meaning of the name in the text is notobvious.--E.]

[Footnote 192: The Taptee is evidently one of these, but it is hard tosay what river is meant by the other. Next to the Taptee on the north,the great river Nerbuddah flows into the Gulf of Cambay, dividing thetwo great Subahs of Malwa and Candeish. The Mahie divides Guzerat fromMalwa; and the Mehindry and Puddar pervade Guzerat; which is bounded onthe west by the Cagger, dividing it from the great sandy desert of_Sinde_ or Jesselmere, and from Cutch.--E.]

[Footnote 193: _Banians_: It would much exceed the bounds of a note toenter upon any explanation here of the Hindoo casts, which will be fullyillustrated in the sequel of this work.--E.]

[Footnote 194: It is most wonderful, that in the grossest, mostridiculous, and most obscene of all idolatrous polytheism, thePortuguese should have fancied any resemblance to the pure religion ofChrist! even under its idolatrous debasement of image worship, and theinvocation of legions of saints. The monstrous superstitions of thebramins will be discussed in a future division of this work.--E.]

In the year of God 1292, or according to the Mahometan account the 700,a pagan king named _Galacarna_ ruled in peace in Guzerat; but involvedthe country in war to deprive his brother of the kingdom of _hampanel_or _Champaneer_ which had been left him by their father. Galacarnaemployed two generals in this war, one of whom named _Madana_ had towife one of the most beautiful women of the country, of the race of_Padaminii_, who, besides their beauty, are said to have so sweet ascent from their skin that they are esteemed beyond all other women. Itis said there are scarcely any of these women in Guzerat, but many inOrissa. There is no mischief without a woman even with an ill savour,how much more then for one of a good scent! King Galacarna fell in lovewith the wife of Madana, and used every means to gain her but to nopurpose. But she being chaste, which was doubtless the sweet smell, gavenotice to her husband and brother of the dishonourable conduct of theking; on which they called in _Shah Nasr Oddin_ king of Delhi, whoinvaded the kingdom of Guzerat and slew Galacarna in battle; after whichhe left his general Habed Shah to reduce the kingdom to subjection,having in the first place rewarded the two brothers for their services,and made the kings of _Mandou_ and _Cheitore_ tributary[195]. Shah NasrOddin was soon afterwards killed by his nephew, and the kingdom ofDelhi was so much weakened by civil war, that Habed-shah revolted andset himself up as king of Guzerat.

[Footnote 195: Probably Malwa and Agimere are here meant.--E.]

In 1330, _Hamet_ a Mahometan Tartar, who resided in the city of Cambay,by the assistance of a number of Arabs, Persians, and _Rumes_ or Turks,usurped a great part of Guzerat, then possessed by _Deosing-rao_. AliKhan succeeded Hamet, and left forty sons, three of whom became kings.The eldest _Peru-shah_ succeeded in the kingdom of Guzerat. The second_Azeide-khan_ got the kingdom of _Mandou_ or Malwa by his wife; and thethird named Ali-khan acquired the kingdom of _Agimere_ in the samemanner. Peru-shah followed the example of his father and grandfather insecuring his kingdom against foreign enemies, and built the city of Diuin memory of a victory over a _Chinese_ fleet. Sultan Mahomet his sonsucceeded, and reigned at the time when Vasco de Gama discovered India.He left the kingdom to his son _Modafer_, as most worthy; but inconsequence of a civil war, Modafer was slain, and his youngest brother_Mahomet Khan_ was raised to the throne. An elder brother _Latisa Khan_aspired to the kingdom, but without success; and after a succession ofcivil wars it fell to _Badur_, or _Behauder Khan_, who was king ofGuzerat at this period. The former king _Modafer_ divided thepossessions belonging to Malek Azz who was lord of Diu among his threesons, which destination gave great displeasure to his own sons whocoveted these territories. But _Badur_ was chiefly dissatisfied, andeven poisoned his father _Modafer Khan_. After this parricide, he fledto the king of Chitore, where he killed a person even in the presence ofthe king at an entertainment, and fled to Delhi. He there professedhimself a _Calendar_ or religious person, to shun the punishment due tohis crimes. These Calendars go about loaded with iron chains and liveabstemiously; yet with all their outward shew of religious austerity,they practice all manner of lewdness and wickedness in secret. Theyenter into no town, but blow a horn on the out-skirts, that people maybring them alms. Sometimes they go about in bands of two thousand ormore, laying the country under contributions.

After remaining some time among the Calendars, Badur got notice of thedistractions prevailing in Guzerat, and went there with his chains insearch of the crown, and acquired the favour of the people so stronglyby his pretended religious austerity, that he was proclaimed king. Tosecure his ill-gotten power, he caused Madrem-al-Mulk to be flayed alivefor having raised his youngest brother Latisa Khan to the throne, andput to death all his brothers. Being desirous to take off _Malek Saca_lord of Diu, Saca fled, and was succeeded by his brother _Malek Tocam_.In the year 1527, one Stephen Diaz Brigas, a Portuguese who had fled hiscountry for some crime, came to India as captain of a French ship withforty Frenchmen, and putting into Diu was there made prisoner with allhis men, who were cruelly put to death by order of Badur.

While at Champaneer in 1527, ambassadors came from _Baber_, padishah oremperor of Delhi, demanding homage and tribute for Guzerat, as part ofhis dominions. At first Badur was disposed to have slain these unwelcomemessengers; but he dismissed them, saying that he would carry the answerin person. He accordingly drew together an army of 100,000 men and 400elephants, with a great train of artillery. But he was prevented fromcarrying his designs into execution, in consequence of a great towncalled _Doitabad_ being taken by Nizam-al-Mulk; and though he recoveredit, he met with great loss of men, chiefly by the weather, it beingwinter, some of his men being slain by a shower of stones as large asoranges[196]. Certain men came to Badur, from the kingdom of the_Colii_[197], who demanded tribute; but he flayed them alive. In 1529,Badur marched with 70,000 horse and 200,000 foot into the dominions ofNizam-al-Mulk, where he did much damage. In the same year Baber padishahof the Moguls of Delhi, marched with an army for the reduction ofGuzerat; but met with so much loss in a battle with the king of_Cheitore_ in Agimere that he was forced to retire to Delhi.

[Footnote 196: The story in the text is difficultly intelligible. I amapt to believe that the great army belonged to Baber, the Great Mogul,designed for the reduction of Guzerat, but turned aside for the recoveryof _Dowlatabad_ in the Deccan, and that the shower of stones of the textis to be understood of hail.--E.]

[Footnote 197: Who these were does not appear.--E.]

Badur invaded the kingdom of _Mandou_[198], and killed the king bytreachery. He then imprisoned all the kings sons, and distributed thewives and daughters of the deceased king among his officers._Salahedin_, one of the principal officers of that kingdom fled to_Raosinga_, a place almost impregnable by nature and art, but wasinveigled into the power of Badur and forced to turn Mahometan. Badurthen besieged the mountain fort of Raosinga, and commanded the womenbelonging to Salahedin to come out; but they sent word that they wouldnot do so unless along with Salahedin, who was accordingly sent into thefort for that purpose. His women, about 500 in number, exclaimed againsthis becoming a Mahometan, saying they would rather be all burnt alivethan delivered to the enemy. Whereupon Salahedin, with 120 men whoguarded his _zenana_, slew them all upon a pile of wood, where they wereburnt with all his riches. After this Badur went against Chitore with anarmy of 100,000 horse, an innumerable infantry, and 600 cannon, andbesieged Chitore for two months, at the end of which it surrendered. Bythis conquest Badur was in possession of three considerable kingdoms.

[Footnote 198: Probably Malwa.--E.]

At this time Tristan de Ga, as formerly mentioned, was at the court ofBadur on an embassy from Nuno de Cuna to treat of peace, but whichnegociation was delayed by sundry accidents, and in particular by thedeath of the Great Mogul, of whom Badur was in great fear. Throughcovetousness Badur discontinued the pay of many of those leaders who hadserved him with great fidelity in his late conquests, on which account4000 men of note deserted from him to the Mogul. One of his officersnamed Mujate Khan endeavoured to convince him of the dangerous effectsthis conduct might have upon his affairs; in reward for which Badur senthim on some frivolous pretence to Diu, and at the same time sent secretorders to Melek Tocam to put him to death; but Tocam disdained toexecute the tyrannical order, and advised the faithful Mujate Khan tosave himself by flight. Instead of following this advice, Mujatereturned to Badur and prostrated himself at his feet, delivering up hisscymeter with these words, "If I have deserved death from you, I herepresent you the traitor and the instrument of his punishment. Kill me,therefore, that I may have the honour of dying by your hand: Yet thefaithful services of my grandfather, father, and self, have merited abetter reward." Badur, struck with his fidelity and attachment, receivedhim again to favour; but turned his rage against Melek Tocam forrevealing the secret orders with which he had been entrusted, and sentMustapha Rume Khan to Diu to put him to death. Malek Tocam got notice ofthis at a country house in which he occasionally resided, whence he fledfrom Rume Khan. After this Badur came to Diu which he reduced, havingarrived there at the same time with Nuno de Cuna, when the interviewbetween the governor and him was proposed; but which Badur only intendedas a feint to ward off the danger which he apprehended from the padishahof the Moguls; meaning, if he could patch up an agreement with thatsovereign, to break with the Portuguese. But the Mogul recalled hisambassadors and commenced war upon Bader, of which hereafter.

Those whom we name Moguls call themselves _Zagetai_, in the same manneras the Spaniards call themselves Goths. Zagetai is the name of theprovince which they inhabited in Great Tartary near Turkestan, and thenobles do not permit themselves to be called Moguls. According to thePersians, the Moguls are descended of Magog the grandson of Noah, fromwhom they received the worship of the _one_ only God. Wandering throughmany provinces, this nation established themselves in _Mogalia_ or_Mongolia_, otherwise _Mogostan_, called Paropamissus by Ptolemy. Atthis time they extend farther, and border upon the kingdom of _Horacam_or _Chorassan_, called _Aria_, or _Here_ by that ancient geographer.From the extreme north, the Moguls extend to the river _Geum_ or_Jihon_, which runs through _Bohara_ or _Bucharia_, the ancient_Bactria_, so named from its capital, the celebrated seat of learningfrom the time of _Zoroaster_, and where _Avicenna_ acquired theknowledge which made him so famous. _Bucharia_, or _Bactria_ bordersupon _Quiximir_ or _Cashmire_ and Mount _Caucasus_, which divides Indiafrom the provinces of Tartary in the north. This kingdom of the Mogulsnow reaches to the mountainous regions of _Parveti_ and _Bagous_ whichthey call _Angou_ [199]. As in this dominion there ace great mountains,so there are likewise very large and fruitful plains, watered by fiverivers which compose the Indus. These are the _Bet, Satinague, Chanao,Rave_, and _Rea_[200]. The cities of this country are numerous and, themen courageous.

[Footnote 199: De Faria becomes here unintelligible, unless he heremeans the range of mountains which bound Hindostan, particularly on thenorth-west, including Cashmir and Cabul; which seems probable asimmediately followed in the text by the _Punjab_, or country on the_five rivers_ composing the Indus.--E.]

[Footnote 200: These rivers are so strangely perverted in theirorthography as hardly to be recognisable, and some of them not at all.The true _Punjab_ or five rivers is entirely on the east of the Indus,Sinde or Nilab. Its five rivers are the Behut or Hydaspes, Chunab orAcesinas, Rauvee or Hydraotes, Setlege or Hesudrus, and a tributarystream of the last named the Hyphasis by the ancients. These two lastare the Beyah and Setlege of the moderns. The Kameh and Comul run intothe Indus to the west of the Punjab--E.]

The Moguls are of the Mahometan religion, using the Turkish and Persianlanguages. They are of fair complexions, and well made, but have, smalleyes like the Tartars and Chinese. Their nobility wear rich and gayclothes, fashioned like those of the Persians, and have long beards.Their military dress is very costly, their arms being splendidly giltand highly polished, and they are singularly expert in the use of thebow. In battle they are brave and well disciplined and use artillery.Their padishah is treated with wonderful majesty, seldom making hisappearance in public, and has a guard of 2000 horse, which is changedquarterly. Both Moguls and Patans endeavoured to conquer India; but bytreachery and the event of war, the Patans and the kingdom of Delhi werereduced by the Moguls at the time when Baber, the great-grandson of thegreat Tamerlane was their padishah.

At the period to which we have now proceeded in our history of thePortuguese in India, _Omaum_ or _Humayun_, the son of Baber, waspadishah of the Moguls, and declared war against Badur king of Guzerat;who immediately sent an army of 20,000 horse and a vast multitude offoot to ravage the frontiers of the enemy. Ingratitude never escapesunpunished, as was exemplified on this occasion. _Crementii_ queen of_Chitore_, who had formerly saved the life of Badur, and who in returnhad deprived her of the kingdom of Chitore, was required by him to sendher son with all the men he could raise to assist him in the war againstHumayun. The queen required he would restore her other son, whom he keptas an hostage, that she might not be deprived of both, and in the meantime raised all the forces she was able. Not aware of her intentions,Badur sent her son to Chitore, on which she immediately put herselfunder the protection of Humayun. Badur immediately drew together an armyof 100,000 horse, 415,000 foot, 1000 cannon, 600 armed elephants, and6000 carriages, with which he besieged Chitore, and battered its wallswith great fury. While engaged in this siege, he received informationthat the army he had sent to ravage the country of the Moguls had beendefeated with the loss of 20,000 men. He at length got possession ofChitore by policy more than force, after losing 15,000 men during thesiege; but the queen made her escape with all her family and wealth. Herepaired the fortifications of Chitore, in which he left _Minao Husseyn_with a garrison of 12,000 men. He then marched to meet the army of theMoguls, which was advancing through _Mandou_ or _Malwa_ in order torelieve Chitore. On learning that Chitore had fallen, and that Badur wasintrenched with his army at Dozor, Humayun marched to that place andtook up a position with so much judgment that the army of Badur wasreduced to extremity for provisions. Being unable to extricate his armyfrom this state of difficulty, Badur fled with all speed to _Mandou_, or_Mundu_ near the Nerbuddah on the southern frontier of Malwa,accompanied by Mustapha Rumi Khan and a few Portuguese. His prodigiousarmy was utterly destroyed or dispersed, and his camp plundered by theMoguls; he even escaping with difficulty from the pursuit of 10,000Mogul horse.

Badur fortified himself in _Mundu_, giving the command of his remainingforce to Rumi Khan, who soon deserted to Humayun. The family and wealthof Rumi Khan were at this time in the fortress of _Champaneer_, and bothBadur and Rumi Khan strove which of them should first be able to securethat place, in which Badur had deposited one of his three tres, whichonly in copper money was worth 30 millions[201], besides pearls,precious stones, and other valuables. Badur got possession ofChampaneer, whence he immediately sent all the treasure, and the familyof Rumi Khan, under a strong escort to Diu; while he wasted the countryand destroyed all the artillery, that it might not fall into the handsof Humayun, and even did the same at _Cambaya_ his own capital. Seeinghis women and riches in the hands of Badur, Rumi Khan obtained fivehundred horse from his new master, with which he pursued Badur soexpeditiously that he entered one of the gates of _Cambaya_ as Badur wasgoing out at the other. Finding himself so closely pursued, Badur leftthe women and riches by the way, in hopes of stopping the pursuit, whichhad the desired effect, as Rumi Khan immediately returned with them toChampaneer, and Badur got safe to Diu, leaving his entire kingdom toHumayun.

[Footnote 201: No intimation is given by De Faria of the denomination ofmoney here alluded to.--E.]

In this state of adversity, Badur at length consented to the erection ofa fort at Diu by the Portuguese. He had formerly given up Basseen tothem, to secure their friendship during his contest with Humayun, andwas now in hopes by their assistance to recover his dominions. Stillhowever his pride prompted him to temporize, and he sent an ambassadorto request assistance from the Turks to recover his territories. Hearingthat Humayun had taken Champaneer he gave himself up to despair andresolved upon going to Mecca, to wait the answer of the grand Turk; buthis mother and friends dissuaded him, advising him to allow thePortuguese to erect the fort at Diu, as by their aid his affairs mightbe restored. He immediately sent notice to that effect to Martin Alfonsode Sousa, then at Chaul, who communicated the event to Nuno de Cuna, andwent immediately to Diu at the request of Badur, arriving on the 21st ofSeptember 1536. A league offensive and defensive was immediately enteredinto between Badur and the Portuguese, in which the former treaty wasconfirmed, except that the emporium of trade was to be transferred fromBasseen to Diu: The fort was to be built where and in what manner shouldbe judged best by the governor-general; and in the mean time a bulwarkor castle upon the sea, commanding the entrance of the port was to bedelivered up. There were many other articles, and among these that thePortuguese were not to meddle with the kings revenues at Diu and otherplaces. The governor general on receiving notice of this treaty, cameimmediately to Diu, where he was honourably received by Badur.

A Jew and an Armenian were immediately sent off to carry intelligence ofthis event to Portugal [202]. At this time there was a person namedDiego Botello residing at Diu who was in disgrace with the king ofPortugal, on account of it being reported that he intended to go overto the French in hopes of high promotion, as he was very conversant inthe affairs of India. Knowing how earnestly King _Joam_ had desired theestablishment of a fort at Diu, he resolved upon endeavouring to be thefirst messenger of this news. For this purpose, having procured a copyof the treaty and a draught of the intended fort, he embarked in a smallvessel, only sixteen feet and a half long, nine feet broad, and fourfeet and a half deep, manned by his own slaves, with three Portugueseand two others, giving out that he was going to Cambaya. But when out atsea, he informed his companions that he meant in this frail bark totraverse the prodigious extent of ocean between India and Portugal, andprevailed upon those along with him to concur in his design. Beingreduced to unspeakable miseries, the slaves, who were the only marinerson board, entered into a conspiracy to kill him, and even killed one ofhis servants, but were all slain. Being now without seaman or pilot, heheld on his course and arrived at Lisbon to the astonishment of everyone. Botello was restored to the royal favour for this wonderful action,but received no other reward, and the bark was immediately destroyed,that it might not be known so small a vessel was capable of performingso great a voyage.

[Footnote 202: Though not so expressed in the text, these messengerswere probably sent over land.--E.]

Nuno de Cuna lost no time in erecting the fort at Diu, the command ofwhich was given to Emanuel de Sousa with 900 Portuguese troops, theramparts being furnished with sixty pieces of great cannon. Badur soonfound the benefit of his alliance with the Portuguese, as Nizam-al-Mulkat the instigation of Nuno made peace with and aided him againstHumayun; and a Portuguese force under Vasco Perez recovered for him aconsiderable place towards the Indus named _Varivene_[203]. Garcia de Saand Antonio Galvam defended Basseen against the Moguls, who wereconstrained to retreat from that place; and Mirza Mahmoud, nephew toBadur, recovered many places on the frontiers from the Moguls. Beingthus prosperous, solely by the assistance of the Portuguese, 500 of whomserved in his army under the command of Martin Alfonso de Sousa, Badurrepented of having allowed them to build a fort at Diu, and even beganto build a wall or fortification between the fort and the city, underpretence of separating the Portuguese from the natives, to preventdifferences by too free communication. But after several strongremonstrances this was desisted from.

[Footnote 203: Perhaps Warwama on the Gulf of Cutch.--E.]

In the year 1537, Badur became still more intent upon removing thePortuguese from Diu, for which purpose he again sent to procureassistance from the Turks, and in the mean time used his utmostendeavours to take the fort and to destroy Nuno de Cuna, whom he invitedto Diu with that view. Though apprized of the treacherous designs ofBadur, De Cuna omitted to avail himself of an opportunity of securinghim while on a visit on board his ship, deferring it to a futureopportunity in a proposed conference in the fort. While Badur was goingon shore in his _katur_ or barge, Emanuel de Sousa the commandant of thefort of Diu followed him in a barge and went on board the royal katur togive the invitation from the governor-general. At this time anotherPortuguese barge coming up hastily, Badur became suspicious of some evilintention, and ordered his officers to kill De Sousa. One Diega deMosquita who had aided Badur in the late war and had acquired a perfectknowledge of the language, understood what was said by Badur, whom heimmediately attacked and wounded, but De Sousa was slain by hisattendants. Upon this a bloody affray took place between the Portugueseand the attendants on Badur, in which seven of the latter were slain.Several other boats belonging to both parties came up, and Badurattempted to escape in his barge to the city, but was stopped by acannon-shot which killed three of his rowers; on which he endeavoured toescape by swimming, but being in danger of drowning he called out,discovering who he was. Tristan de Payva reached out an oar for him totake hold of, that he might get on board the boat; but a soldier struckhim on the face with a halberd, and then others, till he was slain. Hisbody sunk, and neither it nor the body of De Sousa could afterwards befound for interment.

Most of the citizens of Diu were witness to this scene from the walls,and when the intelligence of the kings death reached the city, theinhabitants began to abandon it in such haste and confusion that manywere trampled to death in the throng, being afraid that the Portuguesewould plunder them. The governor-general soon restored confidence by apublic proclamation, and the inhabitants returned quietly to theirhouses. He even entered the town unarmed, to reassure the inhabitantsand to restrain the avarice of his people, so that no disorder wascommitted. De Sousa being slain, as before mentioned, De Cuna gave thecommand of the fortress of Diu to his brother-in-law Antonio de SylveiraMenezes, and his gallant conduct afterwards shewed that he was worthy ofthe station. The queen-mother had retired to _Navanaguer_[204], and Nunosent a message of condolence for the death of her son, endeavouring todemonstrate that it had been occasioned by his own fault; but sherefused to receive or listen to the message. The treasure found in thepalace of Diu in gold and silver was of small value, not exceeding200,000 _pardaos_[205], but the quantity of ammunition was exceedinglygreat. The number of brass cannon was prodigious, those of iron notbeing deemed worthy of account. Among the brass ordnance were three_basilisks_ of prodigious size, one of which was sent by De Cuna as acuriosity to Lisbon, which was placed in the castle of St Julian at themouth of the Tagus, where it is known by the name of the _Gun of Diu_.Among the papers belonging to Badur and his treasurer _Abd' el Cader_letters were found from _Saf_ Khan, communicating the progress he hadmade in his negociations for bringing the Turks upon the Portuguese, andcopies of others from the sheikhs of _Aden_ and _Xael_ to the samepurpose. Having collected these and other testimonies of the treacheryof the late king, Nuno caused _Khojah Zofar_, a man of great reputationamong the citizens both Mahometans and Gentiles, to convene a meeting ofthe principal people, merchants, and _cazis_, or teachers of theMahometan law, to whom these letters and testimonials were produced, injustification of the conduct of the Portuguese, and in proof of thetreacherous intentions of the late king. All the Moors and Pagansacknowledged themselves satisfied by these documents, and accordinglygave certificates to that effect in the Arabic and Persian languages,which were signed by Khojah Zofar and all the leading people among theMahometans and Hindoos, which were communicated to the kings of theDeccan, Narsinga, and Ormuz, and to all the sheikhs along the coast ofArabia as far as Aden.

[Footnote 204: Probably Noanagur on the east side of the Gulf ofCutch.--E.]

[Footnote 205: At 3s. 9d. each, worth L. 37,500 sterling.--E.]

For the greater security and satisfaction of the people, Nuno gaveorders that the Mahometans should enjoy the free exercise of theirreligion, and that the laws and regulations established by Badur for thegovernment of the city and its dependencies should continue to beexecuted, even continuing all the salaries and pensions granted by thelate king. Among these was a Moor of Bengal who, by _authentic_information was 320 years old[206]. This man had two sons, one ninetyand the other only twelve years of age. He appeared to be only aboutsixty, and it was said that his beard and teeth had fallen and beenrenewed four or five times. He was rather under the middle size, andneither fat nor lean. He pretended that before he was an hundred yearsold, while herding cattle on the banks of a river, there appeared a manto him clothed in a gray habit and girt with a cord, having wounds onhis hands and feet, who requested to be carried by him across the riveron his shoulders; which having done, this person said that as a rewardfor his charity, he should retain all his faculties till he saw himagain. Going accordingly into one of the Portuguese churches in India,this old man exclaimed on seeing the image of St Francis, This is hewhom I carried across the river so many years ago.

[Footnote 206: Perhaps an error of the press for 120.--E.]

Mir Mahomet Zaman, a descendant of the ancient kings of Guzerat, onlearning the death of Badur, went to condole with the queen-mother at_Novanaguer_; but she, fearing he came to rob her, refused to see himand even endeavoured to remove to another place. Offended at hersuspicions, Mahomet Zaman lay in wait for her with 2000 horse, androbbed her of all her riches, amounting to above two millions of gold.He then raised above 5000 horse, with which he seized Novanaguer, andhad himself proclaimed king of Guzerat. He then sent a messenger to Nunode Cuna, giving an account of the posture of his affairs and of histitle to the crown, desiring his assistance, in requital for which heoffered to cede to the Portuguese all the coast from Mangalore toBeth[207], including the towns of Daman and Basseen with the royalcountry house of Novanaguer, and other advantages. Nuno accepted theseoffers, caused him to be proclaimed king in the mosque of Diu, and urgedhim to raise forces and disperse the other pretenders. Fearing that thisadvice was only given to deceive, Zaman procrastinated and took noeffectual steps to secure the crown to which he aspired, of whichmisconduct he soon experienced the evil consequences; as the principalpeople of Guzerat set Mahomet Khan, a nephew of the deceased Badur onthe Musnud, and made preparations to subdue Zaman. As Nuno was under thenecessity of leaving Diu early in 1538 to attend to the other affairs ofhis extensive government, the Guzerat nobles in the interest of Mahometraised sixty thousand men, with which they marched against Zaman; andhaving corrupted most of his officers, he was obliged to flee to Delhi,where he was honourably received by the padishah of the Moguls, fromwhom he received the kingdom of Bengal. The successful party in Guzeratcalled Antonio de Sylveira who commanded in Diu to account for the deathof Badur, and being satisfied on that head proposed a treaty of peace;but as they peremptorily refused to accede to the condition conceded byZaman, the negociations were broken off.

[Footnote 207: This account if the matter is inexplicable. Mangalore ison the coast of Malabar far to the south of Guzerat, Beth is not to befound in any map of India in these parts, and Novanaguer or Noanagur isat the other extremity of Guzerat on the Gulf of Cutch.--E.]

The most inveterate enemies of the Portuguese in India were the Moorsupon the coast between Chaul and Cape Comorin, a space of about 200leagues, who had flocked thither in great numbers allured by the vastand profitable trade in that part of India. About this time there livedin Cochin a rich and powerful Moor named Pate Marcar, who beingirritated against the Portuguese for taking some of his vessels went toreside in Calicut to have an opportunity of being revenged upon them bythe assistance of the zamorin, who furnished him with above 50 ships,2000 men, and 400 pieces of cannon. With these he went to the assistanceof Madune Pandar who had revolted against his brother the king of Ceylonwho was the ally of the Portuguese. At Coulam Marcar attacked a largePortuguese ship which was loading pepper, but was beat off after killingthe captain. In another port farther south he took a ship belonging tothe Portuguese and killed all her crew. Beyond Cape Comorin he destroyeda town inhabited by native Christians. On hearing of these depredations,Martin Alfonso went in 19 row-boats from Cochin in pursuit of Marcar,whom he found in a creek where he offered him battle; but as Marcardeclined this, and Alfonso did not think his force sufficient to attackhim in that situation, he returned to Cochin for a reinforcement.Setting out again with 28 row-boats and 400 men, Alfonso found Marcarcareening his vessels at a port or creek beyond Cape Comorin named_Beadala_, where he gave the Moors a total defeat though they hadgathered a force of 7000 men to resist him. Alfonso took 23 barks, 400cannon, 1500 firelocks, and many prisoners, and set free a considerablenumber of Portuguese slaves, having lost 30 men in the action, chieflythrough the mistake of a signal. After this great victory, Alfonso wentover to Columbo in Ceylon, the king of which place was besieged by hisrebellious brother Madune Pandar, who at first believed the Portuguesefleet to be that of Marcar coming to his assistance; but hearing of thedestruction of his ally, he raised the siege and made peace.

It is proper that we should give some account of the rich and fertilekingdom of Bengal on the bay of that name, which receives the waters ofthe famous river Ganges by two principal mouths and many subordinatecreeks. This river has its source in the mountains of Great Tartary,whence it runs southwards near 600 leagues, dividing India into twoparts _infra et extra Gangem_, or on this side and the other side of theGanges. On the great eastern mouth of the Ganges stands the city of_Chatigam_ or _Chittagong_, and on the western mouth the city of_Satigam_[208]. On the east of the Ganges, which runs through the middleof Bengal, _Caor, Camatii, Sirote, Codovascam, Cou,_ and _Tipora_ weresubject to that kingdom, but the two last uniting together had thrownoff the yoke. On the west of the river, the country of _Cospetir_, whoseplain is overflowed annually by the Ganges as the land of Egypt by theNile, had been conquered by the Patans. According to the Pagans, Godhath granted to the kingdom of Bengal an infinite multitude of infantry,to Orixa abundance of elephants, to Bisnagar a people well skilled inusing the sword and buckler, to Delhi a prodigious number of towns, andto _Cou_ innumerable horses. The kingdom of Bengal, reaching between thelatitudes of 22 deg. and 26 deg. 30' N. is well watered and exceedingly fertile,producing abundance of fruit, with sugar and long pepper, greatquantities of cotton, which the inhabitants manufacture with much skill,and has great abundance of cattle and poultry. The natives are heathensof a pusillanimous character, yet false and treacherous; for it ally thecase that cowardice and treachery go together.

[Footnote 208: It is impossible even to guess what place is meant in thetext by Satigam, unless it may have some reference to the riverSagar.--E.]

The king is universal heir to all his subjects. The capital city, named_Gowro_, on the banks of the Ganges, is three leagues in length. Itcontains 1,200,000 families, and is well fortified. The streets arelong, wide, and straight, with rows of trees to shelter the people fromthe sun, and are sometimes so thronged with passengers that many aretrodden to death.

About fifty years before the discovery of India by the Portuguese, anArabian merchant who dwelt in Gowro became very rich and powerful, andhaving defeated the king of Orixa in a great battle grew so much infavour with the king of Bengal that he was made captain of his guards.But, ungrateful to his benefactor, he killed the king and usurped thekingdom, leaving it as an inheritance to the Moors who have sincepossessed this rich and fertile kingdom. The succession to this kingdomproceeds upon no rule of hereditary descent; but is often acquired byslaves who kill their masters, and whosoever acquires the government,were it only for three days, is looked upon as established by Providenceand Divine right. Hence during a period of forty years this kingdom hadbeen ruled by 13 successive princes. At the time when Martin AlfonsoMelo de Jusarte was prisoner in Bengal, Mahomet Shah was king and heldhis court in Gowro with such state that there were 10,000 women in hisZenana, yet was he in continual apprehension of being deposed. Martinand the other Portuguese prisoners did signal service to Mahomet in hiswars with the Patans; and Martin and his followers obtained theirliberty through the means of one _Khojah Sabadim_, a rich Moor, whoengaged to procure liberty for the Portuguese to build a fort atChittagong, if Nuno de Cuna would carry him to Ormuz. Nano being eagerto acquire an establishment in Bengal, granted all that was asked, andsent Martin Alfonso with 200 men in five vessels to Bengal, and tosecure the friendship of the king sent him a magnificent present.Thirteen men who carried the present to Gowro, and thirty others whoaccompanied Martin Alfonso to an entertainment at Chittagong were madeprisoners. On learning this event, Nuno sent Antonio de Silva with 350men in nine vessels, to treat for the liberation of Martin Alfonso andprisoners, by the assistance of Khojah Sabadim, to whose suggestions theformer unfortunate expedition was owing; and to secure the fidelity ofSabadim, a ship belonging to him with a rich cargo was detained inpledge. From Chittagong, Silva sent a messenger to Gowro with a letterand a present; but as the answer was long in coming, Silva judged thatthe king had detained his messenger along with the rest, on which herashly destroyed Chittagong and some other places; for which proceedingthe king confined the prisoners more rigidly than before. But hisnecessities obliged him soon after to change his severity into kindness.

_Xerchan_, or _Shir Khan_, a general of note among the Moguls, being indisgrace with the padisbah or Great Mogul, fled from Delhi to Bengalaccompanied by his brother Hedele Khan, and both of them rose to eminentrank in the service of Mahomet. Being now at the head of a large army,Shir Khan resolved to avenge upon Mahomet the murder of the formerinfant king of Bengal; for which purpose he revolted with his army toHumayun the Mogul padishah, and turned his arms against Mahomet. In hisdistress, Mahomet consulted with Martin Alfonso how best to oppose thearms of Shir Khan. By his advice, some vessels commanded by Portuguesewere stationed in the Ganges at a pass near the fort of _Gori_ where theGanges enters Bengal. These effectually barred the passage of Shir Khanin that direction; but having discovered another ford, he advanced toGowro, which he invested with 40,000 horse, 200,000 foot, and 1500elephants. Shir Khan likewise brought a fleet of 300 boats down theriver, to a place where Mahomet had 800 boats to oppose the enemy. Atthis place Duarte de Brito did signal service in the sight of KingMahomet, and among other things, accompanied by eight other Portuguese,he took an elephant that was swimming across the river. The city ofGowro being reduced to distress by the besiegers, Mahomet bought apeace, and Shir Khan drew off with his army. Being now as he thought insafety, Mahomet allowed Martin Alfonso to depart with the otherPortuguese, only retaining five as hostages for the assistance he hadbeen promised by Nuno.

Shir Khan returned soon afterwards to Gowro, which he took by assault,obliging the king, who was wounded in the assault, to abandon the city.Mahomet died of his wounds on his way to ask assistance from Humayun.Shir Khan drew off from Gowro, where he acquired treasure to the amountof 60 millions in gold. Humayun brought the dead body of King Mahomet toGowro, where he appointed his own brother-in-law Mir Mahomet Zaman tothe vacant kingdom, who had been lately driven from Guzerat. But on thereturn of Humayun towards Delhi, Shir Khan returned to Gowro and droveout Mahomet Zaman. Humayun then marched against Shir Khan with 100,000horse and 150,000 foot, with above 200,000 followers. The two armies meton the banks of the Ganges near the city of Kanoje when Shir Khan gainedso complete a victory that Humayun made his escape with only 25attendants, and never stopt till he arrived at Lahore. Shir Khan treatedthe women belonging to Humaynn with great respect, and restored them tothe padishah. Finding himself too weak for the conquest of Bengal,Humayun determined upon endeavouring to reduce Guzerat; but abandoned inhis distress by his own Omrahs, he went into Persia, where the Sophisupplied him with an army of 12,000 horse, to which he was enabled toadd 10,000 volunteers. With these allies, added to the troops thatcontinued to adhere to him, he invested Candahar, where his brotherAstarii Mirza had proclaimed himself king of Mogostan. The city wastaken and given up to the Persians. In the mean time Shir Khan madehimself formidable in Bengal, having an army of 400,000 horse. He tookthe city of Calijor belonging to the Rajputs, meaning to plunder a vasttreasure contained in the temple at that place; but pointing a cannon tokill an elephant belonging to the temple, the piece burst and killedhimself.

The present formerly mentioned, which was sent by the king of Guzerat tothe Grand Turk to obtain his assistance, was delivered atConstantinople, where at the same time arrived news of the kings death.But the great value of the present demonstrated the vast riches ofIndia, and made the Turkish emperor desirous of acquiring a footing inthat country, whence he thought the Portuguese might be easily expelled,and their possessions reduced under his dominion. In this enterprise hewas greatly encouraged by a Portuguese renegado at Constantinople, whoasserted that the Turkish power might easily supplant that of thePortuguese in India. For this purpose, the Turkish emperor ordered afleet to be fitted out at Suez, the command of which was given to theeunuch Solyman Pacha, governor of Cairo. Solyman was a Greek janizaryborn in the Morea, of an ugly countenance, short of stature, and had solarge a belly that he was more like a beast than a man, not being ableto rise up without the aid of four men. At this time he was eighty yearsof age, and he obtained this command more by dint of his wealth thanmerit, as he offered to be at the entire charge of the expedition. Toenable him to perform this, he put many rich men to death and seizedtheir wealth. Among others he strangled Mir Daud, king or _bey_ of theThebaid, and seized his treasure. It might be said therefore that thisfleet was equipped rather by the dead than the living. It consisted of70 sail, most of them being large gallies, well stored with cannon,ammunition, and provisions; on board of which he embarked 7000 soldiers,part Turkish janizaries and part Mamelukes; besides a great number ofchoice sailors and galley-slaves, many of the latter being taken fromthe Venetian gallies then at Alexandria, which were seized inconsequence of a war breaking out between the Turks and the republic ofVenice.

Solyman, who was both a tyrant and a coward, set out from Suez on the22d of June 1538, ordering four hundred of the soldiers to assist at theoars, and as they resisted this order as contrary to their privileges,he put two hundred of them to death. At Jiddah he endeavoured to takethe sheikh, but knowing his tyrannical character, he escaped into theinterior. At _Zabid_, after receiving a rich present, he put the sheikhto death. He did the same thing at Aden; and arrived at Diu about thebeginning of September 1538, losing six of his vessels by the way.

When Badar king of Guzerat was killed, one _Khojah Zofar_ swam on shoreand was well received by the Portuguese, being the only one of the kingsretinue who was saved on that occasion. For some time he seemed gratefulfor his safety; but at length fled without any apparent reason to thenew king of Guzerat, to whom he offered his services, and evenendeavoured to prevail upon him to expel the Portuguese from hisdominions, asserting that this might be easily done with the assistanceof the Turks. By his instigation, the king of Guzerat raised an army atChampaneer of 5000 horse and 10,000 foot, to which Khojah Zofar added3000 horse and 4000 foot in his own pay. Getting notice of thesepreparations, Antonio de Sylveira who commanded in Diu, used everyprecaution to provide against a long and dangerous siege. Khojah Zofarbegan the war by attacking the town of the _Rumes_[209] near Diu.Francisco Pacheco defended himself bravely in a redoubt at the place,with only fourteen Portuguese, till relieved by Sylveira, and Zofar wasforced to draw off his troops, being himself wounded. Immediatelyafterwards Ali Khan, general of the Guzerat army, joined Zofar with allthe army, and Sylveira thought proper to evacuate all the posts beyondDiu, that he might be able to maintain the city and fort; but somevessels and guns were lost in the execution of these orders. Inconsequence of these losses, and because there were many concealedenemies in the city who only waited an opportunity of doing all the evilin their power to the Portuguese, Sylveira deemed it expedient toevacuate the city, giving his sole attention to the defence of the fort.Ali Khan and Zofar immediately took possession of the city, and began tofire upon the fort with their cannon. Lope de Sousa, who guarded thewood and water belonging to the garrison, had several rencounters, inwhich he slew many of the enemy without any loss on his side, exceptbeing himself severely wounded.

[Footnote 209: This must have been some town or village inhabited byTurks.--E.]

Hearing that the Turkish fleet was approaching, Sylveira sent immediatenotice of it to Nuno de Cuna, who prepared with great diligence to go inperson to relieve Diu. Michael Vaz was sent to sea by Sylveira to lookout for the enemy, and falling in with their fleet came so near onpurpose to examine their force that several of their shot reached hisvessel. He got off however, and carried the news to the governor of Goa.The Turkish fleet came at length to anchor in the port of Diu, where itwas formidable not only to the small Portuguese garrison in the fort,but to the Moors even who had long expected their arrival. Next daySolyman landed 600 well armed janizaries, who immediately entered thecity and behaved with much insolence. Drawing near the fort, they killedsix Portuguese; but 300 musqueteers attacked them from the fort anddrove them away with the loss of fifty men. In consequence of a storm,Solyman was obliged to remove his fleet to _Madrefavat_, as a saferharbour, where he remained twenty days, during which time Sylveira wasdiligently occupied in strengthening the fortifications of the castle,planting his artillery on the ramparts, and assigning every one hisproper post for the ensuing siege. At the same time, the Turks assistedby Zofar commenced operations against the fort, by constructingbatteries, and endeavouring to ruin the defences of a bulwark at theentrance of the harbour, which they battered with their cannon. Withthis view likewise, they built a wooden castle on a large bark, which,they filled with combustibles, meaning to send it against the bulwarkto set it on fire. But Francisco de Gouvea, who commanded the smallnaval force then at Diu, went against this floating castle under night,and contrived to destroy it by fire. At this time likewise some reliefwas sent to the fort by Nuno de Cuna, and the garrison was much elatedby the assurance of his intention of coming speedily in person to raisethe siege.

Returning from Madrefavat, Solyman commenced a heavy fire from his shipsagainst the sea bulwark in which Francisco de Gouvea commanded, but wasso well answered both from that work and the tower of St Thomas, thatone of his gallies was sunk and most of her men drowned. The greatestharm suffered at this time by the Portuguese was from the bursting ofsome of their own cannon, by which several men were killed. Two brothersonly were slain by the fire of the Turks. Zofar now so furiouslybattered the bulwark in which Pacheco commanded, that it becamealtogether indefensible, on which seven hundred janizaries assaulted itand set up their colours on its ruined walls; but the Portuguese ralliedand dislodged them, killing an hundred and fifty of the enemy. Theassault of this bulwark was continued a whole day, and at night theenemy were forced to retreat with much loss. Next day Pacheco deeming itimpossible to resist, surrendered upon promise of life and liberty tohimself and his men. Solyman did not perform the latter stipulation, buthe granted their lives for the present and clothed them in Turkishhabits. By one of these prisoners, Solyman sent a summons to Sylveira tosurrender, but the proposal was treated with contempt. Solyman nowplanted his artillery against the fort, having among other cannon ninepieces of vast size which carried balls of ninety pounds weight. Hisartillery in all exceeded 130 pieces of different sizes, and hisbatteries were continually guarded by 2000 Turks. This formidable trainbegan to play against the castle on the 4th of October 1538, andcontinued without cessation for twenty days, doing great injury to thedefences of the fort, which could hardly do any injury in return to thebesiegers, neither could the garrison repair sufficiently the mostdangerous breaches, though they used every possible exertion for thatpurpose. On the sixth day after the commencement of this violentcannonade, perceiving that the bulwark commanded by Caspar de Sousa wasmuch damaged, the Turks endeavoured to carry it by assault, but wererepulsed with much slaughter, two only of the defenders being slain.Every day there were assaults by the besiegers or sallies by thegarrison. In one of these Gonzalo Falcam lost his head; and Juan deFonseca being disabled by a severe wound of his right arm continued towield his lance with his left as if he had received no hurt. A youth ofonly nineteen years old, named Joam Gallego, pursued a Moor into the seaand slew him, and afterwards walked back deliberately to the fortthrough showers of balls and bullets. Many singular acts of valour wereperformed during this memorable siege.

At length many brave officers and men of the besiegers were slain,powder began to wax short and provisions shorter. The relief expectedfrom Non Garcia Noronha, now come out as viceroy of India, was long inmaking its appearance. The remaining garrison was much weakened by aswelling in their gums, accompanied by their teeth becoming so loosethat they were unable to eat what little food remained in the stores.Yet the brave garrison continued to fight in defence of their post, asif even misery and famine were unable to conquer them. Even the women inthe fort exerted themselves like heroines. Donna Isabella de Vega, thewife of Manuel de Vasconcelles, had been urged by her husband to go toher father Francisco Ferram at Goa, lest the fort might be taken and shemight fall into the hands of the Turks; but she refused to leave him.During the distress of the garrison, as many of the men were obliged towork in repairing the works, this bold-spirited lady called together allthe women who were in the fort, and exhorted them to undertake thislabour, as by that means all the men would be enabled to stand to theirarms. The women consented to this proposal, and continued for theremainder of the siege to perform this duty. She was even outdone by AnnFernandez, the wife of a physician, who used to visit the most dangerousposts by night, and even appeared at the assault to encourage thesoldiers. Her son happening to be slain in one of the attacks, sheimmediately drew away his body, and returned to the place of danger, andwhen the fight ended she went and buried her son.

Perceiving that the Turks were undermining the bulwark which hecommanded, Gasper de Sousa made a sally with seventy men to prevent thatwork and made a great slaughter of the enemy. When retreating he missedtwo of his men and returned to rescue them; but being surrounded by theenemy they cut the tendons of his hams, after which he fought upon hisknees till he was overpowered and slain. The mine was countermined; butthe continual labour to which the besieged were subjected becameinsupportable, and they were utterly unable to repair the many breachesin their works. At this conjuncture, four vessels arrived from theviceroy Don Garcia, and landed only a reinforcement of twenty men.Solyman was much concerned at this relief though small, and wasastonished the fort should hold out against so many assaults, moreespecially as Zofar had assured him he might carry it in two. At thebeginning of the siege the garrison consisted of six hundred men, manyof whom were slain and several of the cannon belonging to the fort hadburst; yet Solyman began to lose confidence, and looked anxiously to thesea, fearful of the Portuguese fleet which he had learnt was comingagainst him. This induced him to press the siege more vigorously,especially against the sea bulwark where Antonio de Sousa commanded,which was furiously attacked by fifty barks, two of which were sunk bythe Portuguese cannon. The Turks made several attempts to scale thisbulwark, in all of which they were repulsed with great slaughter, yetreturned repeatedly to the charge with similar bad fortune. Sousa sentoff his wounded men from the rampart to have their wounds dressed. Amongthese was a person named Fernando Ponteado, who waiting his turn heardthe noise of a fresh assault, and forgetting the dressing ranimmediately to his post where he received a fresh wound. Going back toget dressed, a third assault recalled him before the surgeon had time toattend to his wants, and he was a third time wounded, and at lengthreturned to get all his three wounds dressed at once.

By this time, out of the original garrison of 600 men, only 250 remainedthat were able to stand to their arms. Solyman was almost in despair ofsuccess, yet resolved to make a desperate effort to carry the place. Inhopes of putting Sylveira off his guard, and to take the place bysurprise, he sent twelve of his gallies to sea, as if he meant to raisethe siege; but Sylveira was not to be lulled into security, andcontinued to exert the utmost vigilance to provide against every danger.One night some noise was heard at the foot of the sea-wall of thecastle, where it appeared that the enemy were applying great numbers ofscaling ladders. Every effort was made to oppose them during thedarkness of the night, and when morning broke, the place was seen besetall round by at least 14,000 men. The cannon of the fort was immediatelydirected against the assailants, and the garrison mounted the walls inevery part, but chiefly near the governors house where the defences wereweakest, but where Sylveira had placed such people as he could mostrely upon. Being repulsed from thence with great slaughter, the enemymade an attempt on an adjoining bulwark, where Gouvea commanded, andpoured in prodigious showers of bullets and arrows. Fourteen galliescame up against this bulwark, which they battered with their cannon; butGouvea obliged them to draw off, having sunk two of the gallies andkilled many of their crews. At length 200 Turks forced their way intothe bulwark and planted their colours on its rampart. Scarcely thirtyPortuguese remained to oppose them, yet they charged the enemy withgreat fury, who were so thick that every shot told, and they were drivenout with much loss. Fresh men succeeded and regained the bulwark, onwhich they planted four standards. Many Portuguese who were wounded andburnt by the fireworks of the enemy ran and dipped themselves in jars ofsalt water, where seeking ease they perished in dreadful torment.

Sylveira went continually from place to place, encouraging all to dotheir duty manfully and supplying reinforcements where most needed. Theenemy had much the better in the second assault on the bulwark commandedby Gouvea, on which several gentlemen rushed upon them. At this time,one Joam Rodrigues, a strongman of great bravery, ran forward with abarrel of powder on his shoulder, calling out to clear the way, as hecarried his own death and that of many. He threw the barrel among theenemy, which exploded and blew up above an hundred of them, yetRodriques came off unhurt, and performed other memorable deeds, so thathe merited the highest honours and rewards of those that were gained inthis siege. By other fireworks the four ensigns who set up the colourswere burnt to death, and two others who went to succeed them were slain.Being again driven from the bulwark, the enemy made a third assault: Buttheir commander being slain, who was son-in-law to Khojah Zofar, his menwere dismayed and took to flight. These reiterated assaults lasted fourhours, during which a small number of exhausted Portuguese had towithstand vast numbers of fresh enemies. At length, having 500 men slainand 1000 wounded, the enemy retired; while on the side of the Portuguesefourteen were killed, and 200 were disabled from wounds. Only fortyremained who were able to wield their arms, insomuch that no hoperemained of being able to withstand a fresh attack. The walls wereshattered and ruined in every part: No powder remained: In fact nothingremained but the invincible courage of Sylveira, who still encouragedthe remnant of his brave garrison to persist in their defence. Notknowing the desperate state to which the fort was reduced, and dismayedby the bad success of all his efforts, Solyman raised the siege and setsail with all his fleet on the 5th of November.

When Sylveira saw the Turkish fleet weigh anchor and depart he thoughtit was merely a feint preparatory for another assault, for which reasonhe posted the forty men who still remained of his garrison, determinedto resist to the last man. He even made some of the wounded men bebrought to the walls, on purpose to make a shew of a greater number than